Wheel of Fortune
by Green Phantom Queen
Summary: Sequel to "Who Decides?" and Side story to "Horseshoes and Hand-grenades." Mei Shirakawa cannot recall the time when Ryusei met with Madame Pollux. However, what she finds is that her fate is slowly intertwining with her friend's, and also to the chaos that will change her life forever. Will she be able to decide her fate or will fate be the one who decides for her?
1. II The High Priestess (U)

**Wheel of Fortune**

Author: Green Phantom Queen

Rated: T/M

Summary: Mei Shirakawa of Subaruboshi High keeps her friends and tarot deck close to her heart. Yet, for all she knows, she can't remember that moment when her best friend, Ryusei Sakuta, came to visit Madame Pollux for a fortune or the fate that he decided for his own. With each card she draws, Mei soon finds herself unknowingly involved with Ryusei's fate, and also with her own as well.

Note: This is the sequel to "Who Decides?" and side-story to "Horseshoes and Hand-grenades." Takes place before "Horseshoes and Hand-grenades"

**Reading 1: II The High Priestess (Upright)**

"_Tarot is just stories on cards."_

_-Erin Morgenstern_

"_Do you decide if this fate is yours or do I? Who decides?"_

_Ryusei smiled and immediately, answered back, "I decide my own fate."_

_There was an uneasy silence as both fortune-teller and patron stared into each other's eyes. Then, the fortuneteller just nodded her head._

"_Very well," she said. "I am glad we had this encounter. Go and have fun in your festival, and may we cross paths in the next life."_

_Ryusei gave a quick goodbye as he left the tent, leaving behind a burst of sunlight in his wake._

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

**BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!**

The sound of the alarm clock woke Mei Shirakawa from her slumber. She turned and saw it was 7:15, the time that she would normally wake up to prepare for school. She frowned—she didn't want to go to school for the last few months due to the new tyrant that was running it. She pressed a button that turned off her alarm clock and sat up, running a hand through her hair.

She looked outside, seeing raindrops patter against her windowsill. Great. Now she had to worry about both what the 'King of Subaruboshi High' had planned for her _and_ the rain. She wished she could do something about Yamada Tatsumori's sick and twisted theater game he placed in her school, but what would that accomplish? Any and all attempts to usurp him have failed, seeing as he could transform into that devilish sheep and place anyone into a never-ending slumber should they fail in their 'roles', whatever they may be. She was lucky to just play as a regular student—she could've been her PE teacher teaching English, and poor Azusa-sensei's pronunciation wasn't up to par with what Yamada's wishes.

"Mei-chan!" cried a voice. "Get up!"

"I'm up," Mei cried, getting out of bed. "I'll be down in a minute, Mom."

As she began to place her tan school uniform on, Mei picked up her Tarot Deck lying on her desk and shuffled through it. It gave her a bit of comfort to just run her fingers through the cards and see what her fortune would be. It was if she was asking fate to tell her that Yamada's tyranny would soon end, and that things will turn out for the better. Closing her eyes, she drew a card.

When she opened her eyes, Mei saw the figure of an upright woman dressed in a long white gown and a crescent moon nesting near her feet. On either sides of the woman were two pillars—the one on the left being black, the one on the right being white. On top of the woman's head was a horned crown with a circle nestled between it, and in her hands was a book.

"The High Priestess," Mei whispered. "Second of the Major Arcana, she represents untouched wisdom. This means that I have to use my gut feeling to sense something wrong." She placed her deck down and went toward her bag, slinging it over her shoulder. She then hear a low rumbling sound. "Well, this 'gut feeling' tells me that I need breakfast, and that I shall get."

Having prepared everything for that morning, Mei left her room and closed the door shut.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

After breakfast, Mei opened her umbrella and left the house, walking underneath the rain. She took a deep breath as she smelled the fresh rain air and sighed. The rain was only making her thoughts become gloomier than usual. Now she was going to have to go through today—with all of those stupid lines memorized—with the rain as company. Her role was 'Lonely Girl staring at the Window', a solitary role that meant that she couldn't be involved communicating with her friends at all. If she had her way, she'd cast Yamada as the 'Sick and Cruel Boy Thrown out the Second Story Window'.

Brushing that thought aside, Mei pondered that dream she had this morning. It was always the same: it was Madame Pollux talking to Ryusei about fate and Ryusei leaving the tent. No matter how hard she tried, Mei could never figure out what happened at the School Festival. In fact, when she tried to talk to Ryusei about it, he said not to worry about it at all! Some friend he was...

She tried to think earlier than that, when she was preparing to leave the tent. Her shift was already over, having successfully done two palm readings and three tarot readings in her time. Noticing the time on her watch, Mei was gathering the items and was about to remove the outfit for Madame Pollux when...nothing. She couldn't recall what happened after she packed up everything, but there was always this nagging feeling that someone or something wanted to communicate a message. She couldn't get it out of her mind—who possessed her and why?

As Mei approached the school campus and trudged her way to her desk by the window, she looked at her classmates all quiet and nervous. She couldn't blame them—everyone had to be on their best 'behavior' or else Yamada would use his magic wand to cast them into a perpetual sleep. She narrowly avoided a treatment a few weeks ago—when she accidentally spilled her lunch all over the floor—and promised not to let herself be caught like that ever again. Unfortunately, being docile wasn't enough to stop the named "Apostle of Sleep" and his dictatorship.

"Attention students," Yamada announced over the speakers. "Welcome to another day at school. I hope you memorized your lines for the day. I wouldn't want to _intrude_ on anyone's day after all."

Yamada let out a laugh as everyone sat still, hands in front of them. Mei just narrowed her eyes. If only she had the power to end that devilish sheep's reign...she couldn't sit still and let him get away with this injustice! The only question was how much longer would this last? How long until there would be someone who would liberate everyone from this unholy reign?

The only answer that Mei could come up with was that Yamada's rule wasn't going to end now. Instead, she would have to endure another day of acting like a quiet girl staring at the window and see the rain fall down. Once she heard Yamada no longer squawking away, she immediately turned her gaze toward that fated window, watching the rain as it was written in her script.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

It was time for the lunch, or 'Intermission' as Yamada put it, and Mei just pulled out her Tarot Deck and bento box. Ever since that day in Madame Pollux's fortune tent, she had been trying to draw the three cards that were used in Ryusei's reading, in hopes of understanding just went on. Her friends were telling her that she was going crazy—what was so important about three Tarot Cards that she had to use every free moment she had to go through her deck?

For one thing, there were 78 cards in a Tarot Deck, and all cards had different meanings depending on whether they were upright or upside-down. Using her calculator, Mei discovered that she would have to go through a maximum of 620,620 combinations of three card spread-outs in order to replicate the exact reading that she gave to Ryusei. More importantly, she would have to compare that to the ones she gave prior to Ryusei's in order for it to match up. The chances of her finding that combination was as equal to finding snow in August, as it were.

Still, she had to persevere. In order to put these dreams to rest, she had to find that exact reading. Whatever Ryusei heard that made him smile like that had to be of good news.

Mei closed her eyes and felt her hands shuffle the deck. When her fingers brushed against the cards' edges, she only concentrated on moving the cards around, not caring whether or not if a card was flipped during the process. She mentally counted up to a thousand by tens, her tarot deck dancing in her hands. When she finally reached a thousand, she slammed the deck onto her desk and fanned the cards out. Opening her eyes, Mei Shirakawa pulled out a small notepad from her pocket, reading all of her recent readings for the past few days.

Wheel of Fortune (up), Queen of Swords (down), The Hanged Man (down)

The Fool (down), Temperance (up), Three of Coins (down)

The Star (down), Nine of Cups (up), The World (up)

With each combination written, it seemed as if there would be no end to how long it would take to find that right reading, but Mei wasn't worried. She would find her answer soon enough.

Setting the notepad down, Mei lifted her hand and waved it over her deck, trying to decide which card to pick. Regarding her morning tarot card—The High Priestess—she concentrated on the gut feeling inside her. Her hand slowly wavered over two cards before finally landing on one. She pulled the card and flipped it over, amazed at what she found. The card depicted six golden goblets, their rims facing upside-down. When she saw this card, Mei felt a surge of power blooming inside her—_this_ was one of the cards in Ryusei's reading!

"An inverted Six of Cups," she whispered. "Ryusei has been thinking about something that affected him the past...something that deeply hurt him."

She set the card down and immediately wrote the name of the card on her notepad. Then, her hand hovered over the remaining seventy-seven cards. It swept back and forth, carefully deciding which card would represent the present. The hand soon rested on a card in the middle, revealing itself to be four golden coins etched with pentagrams. The words "Four of Coins" remained upright.

"A Four of Coins represents how one is tied up with something," Mei whispered, setting the card down. "Ryusei's all right at where he's at, but he'll eventually cross a point where his actions become selfish than generous. Could it possibly be due to the inverted Six of Cups?"

She wrote down the card's name before reaching for one final card. The third card was the one that made Ryusei happy—the card that represented the endless possibilities of the future would be the one that would answer everything. She now had a very slim chance on finding the last card that would lead her to the truth. She couldn't fail now.

Mei's fingers twitched over three specific cards bundled up in the middle. Her cut feeling was telling her that one of those three was going to give her the true story of that fateful reading. She felt as if Madame Pollux's spirit was guiding her to the exact card. Without even thinking, she pulled out the card, revealing nine staffs all covered in vines. The words "Nine of Rods" were all upright.

At that moment, Mei winced and dropped the card onto her desk. Placing a hand onto her forehead, she could feel memories coming back. She saw herself in Madame Pollux's fortune tent, dressed in the fortune-teller's blue cloak. Standing across from her was Ryusei, who looked happier than she had ever seen him. Just as Ryusei was about to jump for joy, Madame Pollux—or rather Mei, herself—began to speak.

"_However," said Madame Pollux, waking Ryusei from his thoughts. "There seems to be a small obstacle in your path just as everything is about to turn right." The fortune-teller smiled underneath her veil. "Do not worry about it though—by this time, you would have everything you need to complete your task. You must be persistent, but you must also take precaution. Expect the worst to come in these types of situations."_

_Madame Pollux began to gather the three cards—the inverted Six of Cups, and both upright Four of Coins and Nine of Rods back into the spread out deck before speaking. "You have good things coming to you, Sakuta. Now then, I must ask you one question..."_

"_What's that?" asked Ryusei, hands gripping onto the table. It looked like he was about to burst from excitement from the looks of it.  
_

"_Do you decide if this fate is yours or do I? Who decides?"_

The memory faded away as Mei opened her eyes. Those last two questions were the very same ones that haunted her in her sleep. The three cards in front of her were the same as in that memory—she finally found what she was looking for. The only question now was, what was she going to do with that knowledge?

She took a glance at the clock—in twenty minutes, lunch would be over. Seeing as she wasn't going to 'continue class' on an empty stomach, Mei gathered her tarot deck, placed it into her bag, said a small prayer, and began to eat. She took her first step in finding the reading. Now she would have to confront Ryusei the next time she saw her so she can ask why he came there in the first place.

While she ate, she was unaware of the serpent who emerged from the shadows, observing her every movement. It stayed silent before disappearing back into the darkness.

* * *

**Next time: Mei's wishes to see Ryusei come true, but the situation that he's placed in is one that Mei cannot perceive. What is Ryusei searching for? And is there anything Mei can do to help him?**

**Second Reading: XII The Hanged Man (upright)**


	2. XII The Hanged Man (U)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 2: The Hanged Man (Upright)**

"_Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not a truth."_

_-Marcus Aurelius_

Once class was over for the day, Mei let out a sigh of relief. This meant that Yamada had no more control over the school once she made it out of the campus, and she could be her normal self for a change.

However, instead of feeling happiness in obtaining her short amount of freedom, Mei was feeling worried. She now had an understanding of what happened back at the fortune tent, but another question popped into her head: When was Ryusei going to fulfill the events shown on the Nine of Rods? The Nine of Rods meant that he would eventually have everything he needed to complete his goal, save for a minor road bump in his path. The downside to actually getting the reading was that she had no idea what Ryusei wanted. Great. Just great.

She walked out of the school with an umbrella protecting her from the rain. It was now a light drizzle, perking up her mood even further...

"Shirakawa-san."

Until she looked up and saw him. It was Ryusei. Time began to slow down for Mei as she began to recall the Tarot Reading and the memories of her time as Madame Pollux. She could recall Ryusei's warm smile as he left the tent, but what she saw in front of him wasn't a smile. It was his normal expression of "How do you do?" that he wore toward all of the students and faculty in Subaruboshi High.

"Sakuta-kun," she whispered, clutching onto her umbrella. She looked around warily hoping that Yamada wasn't around to hear her. "What are you doing here?"

Before she could hear what Ryusei had to say, she was pulled away by her fellow Literature Club members (whose names she always trouble forgetting so she called them Ros and Guil from an old Shakespeare play she read) and lead out of the campus. She turned around as Ryusei looked back with an expression of curiosity on his face. It made her feel embarrassed that she was unable to fight her friends as they were trying to save her from a fate that many students suffered in the past.

So all she could do was turn her gaze away from her friend as she left the campus in a hurry.

**0-0-0-0-0**

Once she made it back home, and chewing out Ros and Guil for making her leave Ryusei back at the campus, Mei stormed to her room, closed the door shut, and lied down on her bed. She let out a sigh as she recalled the look in Ryusei's eyes. She just wanted to tell him what was going on, but something inside her wouldn't let the words pour out of her mouth.

She pulled out her cellphone and navigated toward her friend's list. She scrolled down until she found Ryusei's cell-phone number, her thumb just about to press the button to automatically call him. She stared at it for a few more seconds before lowering her hand and rolling onto her stomach. She couldn't do it. She just couldn't tell him what was going on.

"Maybe a reading would give me an answer," she said to herself, going to her bag. She pulled out her tarot deck, sat up and began to shuffle once more. "Tarot deck, what is my future going to be? What is my reading?"

Once Mei finished her count to one thousand, she set the deck down onto the bed and fanned the cards out. She took a deep breath as she picked the card that was on top of the deck. The first card depicted a woman resting on a throne cradling a golden orb printed with a star. The card was upside down, the face of the woman showing a frown instead of a smile.

"The inverted Queen of Pentacles," Mei began. "It represents being consumed with work…" she looked at her notepad and the countless readings she did in the past. "That's true…but it was for a good reason, wasn't it? I had to know the truth…"

She set the card down and let her hand waver over the other 77 cards. Without thinking, she picked another card, revealing a sun with a face on it, shining under a young cherub riding a white horse. In the background was a field of sunflowers and in the cherub's hand was a large orange banner. Like the Queen of Pentacles before, this card was also upside down.

"An inverted The Sun," Mei nodded her head. "It's been hard to be positive these past few months, due to Yamada's tyranny over the school. If I put my mind into it, things will turn out for the better…if only."

She set the card down and closed her eyes. The future had endless possibilities, each of them represented in the 76 cards left in the deck. After ten seconds, she quickly took the last card into her hand. This one depicted a naked woman with a long strip of white ribbon covering her privates, and wielding two batons in her hands. She stood in the middle of a large green wreath, the ends tied with red ribbon. On the four corners of the card were different heads: a bull, a cherub, an eagle, and a lion. Unlike the first two cards, this one was right-side up.

"An upright World?" Mei asked with confusion. "That means fulfillment and completion, but of what? Is it the completion of the tarot reading? Or maybe it's the end of Yamada's reign?" she sighed and lied back, staring back at the ceiling. "Tarot never gives me any straight answers."

As she let out another sigh, Mei thought she heard a hiss. Sitting up, she looked around, trying to find the source of the strange, sibilant sound.

"Who's there?" she asked, slowly getting out of bed. "Who's hissing?"

The only reply Mei received was another low hiss. She slowly walked around her room, looking underneath her bed, behind her desk, in her closet, and outside her window to find the source. However, she couldn't find anything that would remotely create the hissing noise. Perhaps she was tired...that's it. It had been a very long day after all.

Mei turned to her Tarot Deck, gathered all of the cards, placed it back onto her desk, and turned toward her backpack. She had a lot of homework to do, regardless of Yamada's sick play over the school. The last thing she needed was failing grades.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

That night, there were no more dreams of Madame Pollux and Ryusei Sakuta. Mei fell into a peaceful sleep.

When she woke up the next morning, she found herself going to her Tarot Deck and shuffling it once more. The only thought in her mind was what today was going to be like. After shuffling the deck three times, she pulled out her Daily Tarot Card: it depicted a man hanging upside down from the branch of a tree. Surprisingly, only the right leg was stuck—the left leg was crossed over his right knee. The words "The Hanged Man" appeared underneath the picture of the man, proving that the card was in an upright position.

"The Hanged Man?" asked Mei. "I'm supposed to wait for an opportunity?" She set the card down. "I've waited patiently for five months in order to get that tarot reading and lasted that time through Yamada's sick rule over Subaruboshi High. I'm supposed to wait a little longer? For what?!"

"Mei-chan!" cried a voice, knocking on her door. "Mei, are you all right?"

"I'm all right, mom," Mei quickly answered, shuffling her Tarot Deck. "I'll be down in a minute. Just let me get dressed."

Ignoring her worries about the reading, Mei Shirakawa began to dress herself for the day ahead of her. She was unaware of the serpent peering underneath her bed, eyes glowing with delight.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

After another breakfast with her parents, Mei walked out of the house with an umbrella in hand. She walked her way to school, a book carried in the crook of her arm. Ros and Guil were there also, but her mind was focused on seeing Ryusei back on campus, along with three other students. Two of them were dressed in the Amanogawa High uniform (consisting of a white blouse, blue blazer, plaid tie and a plaid skirt for the girl, plaid pants for the boy), the other was dressed as an old 1980's delinquent with a gelled pompadour, black biker jacket and pants and red shirt.

"Ryusei-kun," she whispered, seeing Ryusei turning around to her. "You came back..."

She gave her best smile, knowing that Yamada was watching the school's every single moment. She wanted to tell about the horrors she was going through, but she didn't want Ryusei to get caught in the crossfire. She'd never forgive herself if Ryusei became another victim of the 'Apostle of Sleep'!

"Ryusei!" said the teenager delinquent, turning to Ryusei. "You have a girlfriend here?"

Mei felt her cheeks turn red at the word 'girlfriend'. It was true that she liked Ryusei, but she never considered worthy enough to be his girlfriend.

"Wrong," Ryusei replied. "We're just classmates."

Mei frowned as she said, "I'm very disappointed to hear that." She pulled a book out of her book bag and shoved it toward Ryusei's chest.

"What's this?" asked Ryusei, observing the cover. It was of a woman with red hair and dressed in a blue dress and lacy collar. Above her head was the title, "The Puppet Masters".

"You lent this to me a while back," Mei answered quickly. "I'm just here to return it. Be glad I remembered."

With that done, she hastily walked off, feeling her heart beat against her chest. Her mind quickly recalled the meanings of three specific Tarot Cards.

-Upward Nine of Rods: Ryusei was close to his supposed goal, but there was an obstacle that was about to get in his way.

-Upward The World: Something was about to be completed in Mei's life.

-Upward The Hanged Man: Mei had to wait for a good time before getting into action...whatever that was to be.

She placed a hand over her chest as she hurried to class, knowing that wouldn't be able to keep her 'focus' on the window all day. Somehow, she knew that today was going to go out terribly wrong.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

Mei was right.

Yamada Tatsumori—in the guise of Aries Zodiarts—had placed the mysterious white figure (and the other two students from Amanogawa High) into sleep. Then, there was this being known as Kamen Rider Meteor who asked to see a demonstration of the Zodiarts of the Ram's powers. A female student—one of many who were left to fall asleep admist the Zodiarts—slowly woke up, confused as to how she got here.

Why Kamen Rider Meteor needed to know about that sort of thing was beyond Mei, as she, Ros and Guil, carried the 'white being' (who was really the teenage delinquent from this morning) into an empty storage room, waiting until he finally woke up from the sleeping spell. As they waited, Mei began shuffling her Tarot Deck once more.

"Will you quit doing that?" asked Ros. "You been doing this non-stop ever since the School Festival! This is no time for-"

"I'm not doing it to find out what happened at the Festival," Mei interrupted, slamming the deck onto the bench. "It's for him," she pointed to the sleeping delinquent. "What will his future be? That's for me to decide."

"Leave her alone," Guil muttered. "Girl's too obsessed with the future to stay in the present."

Mei pretended to ignore that statement as she drew a card from the middle of her deck. The first card depicted a man with a laurel wreath crowning his head, riding on a white stallion into town. There was a parade of people cheering for him, each of them carring five rods. A sixth rod was in the man's hand, a wreath decorating it. The card was upside down though.

"An inverted Six of Rods to start," she began. "He's doubting his own abilities and lacks confidence."

"Gee, don't we all?" Ros asked sarcastically.

Mei glared back at Ros before picking up the second card at the bottom of the deck. Like the first card, this one had rods—three of them, to be exact—all standing on the ground. A man, whose back was facing her, stood on top of a cliffside, one hand grasping onto a rod with determination. Like Unlike the Six of Rods, the card was upright.

"An upright Three of Rods," she said. "I see, he's planned for something and everything's going his way. It means he's going to take advantages of opportunities that come his way."

"He can start by combing his hair and dressing like a normal human being," Guil suggested.

"You're not helping," Mei snarled, looking over her deck. "I don't even know why I'm friends with you two in the first place."

Instead of choosing carefully, she just drew the card from the top of the deck and slammed it down. It depicted an old man dressed in dark red robes and a long white beard. In his hands were a golden orb and a golden ankh. The man sat on a stone throne with ram heads adorning it. Behind him was the background of barren mountains. This card, however, was upside down.

"An inverted Emperor means dominating thoughts," she said. "He lacks self-control or ambition. But why?"

The delinquent slowly opened his eyes and sat up, rubbing his head. He then turned toward Mei, a smile on his face.

"Did you save me, Ryusei's girlfriend?" he asked.

"Call me Mei," Mei answered back. "And I'm not Ryusei's girlfriend yet. What's your name?"

"I'm Gentaro Kisaragi, and I'm going to be the one who befriends everyone!" Gentaro lightly tapped his chest before stretching a hand out.

"We need to get going, Mei," said Ros, looking at his watch. "It's reflection time."

"Reflection time?" asked Gentaro.

"Those who gave poor performances are evaluated by the king," Guil explained. "And they'll be executed."

"I won't allow that!" Gentaro stood up, curling his fist. "I promise that I'll free you all."

Mei's spirit lifted just a bit. Was it true? Was this what was told in The World?

"Can you...really do such a thing?" she whispered.

"Of course!" Gentaro replied, turning around. "Back at Amanogawa High, I'm part of the Kamen Rider Club where we fight off the Zodiarts and help everyone who was hurt. We can do this."

Mei nodded her head and embraced Gentaro. Finally, there was some light in the end of the tunnel. Yamada's reign would finally end, and everything would go back to normal.

So then, even as she gave thanks to her school's savior, why did she feel that things weren't going to be that easy?

**0-0-0-0-0-**

Mei found her answer twenty minutes later in the abandoned warehouse.

After freeing her fellow students, she told Ros and Guil to take the students back to the campus. When asked why she was staying behind, Mei only answered, "There's something I need to confirm."

Hiding behind some crates, she saw Gentaro—a.k.a. Kamen Rider Fourze—battling it out with Aries Zodiarts. This was the battle that would end everything. With one fell swoop, Yamada Tatsumori would be usurped and Subaruboshi High would be at peace.

The cannons that were mounted on Fourze's shoulders—he was currently in something called 'Magnet States' if Mei recalled—deattached themselves and fused to create a large horseshoe magnet. Fourze, pulled on the lever of his driver as he cried out, "RIDER SUPER ELECTROMAGNETIC BOMBER!"

A beam of red and blue electromagnetic energy fired from the magnet, preparing to destroy Aries once and for all...or at least it was supposed to. Instead, to everyone's disbelief, Kamen Rider Meteor appeared, a staff in hand to block the attack.

"What?" Mei whispered to herself. "That wasn't supposed to happen! What's going on?!"

She continued to watch Kamen Rider Meteor—or rather, Kamen Rider Meteor Storm as Fourze called him—began to ruthlessly attack Gentaro. From the looks of it, Fourze's Magnet States were too bulky to go against the switer Kamen Rider Meteor, who soon jumped into the air. When she heard Meteor's voice, that's when Mei realized what happened.

"Then take this and DIE FOR ME, KISARAGI!" cried the voice of Ryusei Sakuta.

"No..." Mei whispered. "Than that means..."

She pulled out her notepad and read the cards used for Ryusei and Gentaro's readings: Ryusei had the upward Nine of Rods and Gentaro had the inverted The Emperor. Now she realized what happened...

She heard Fourze's scream as he returned back to his original white state. Meteor Storm—no, Ryusei Sakuta—approached Fourze, preparing to kill Fourze with the one-inch punch. Just as he was about to, he hesitated. Mei crossed her fingers and prayed that Ryusei wouldn't go through with what he was doing...

Only to utter a silent gasp as she saw her best friend kill Gentaro Kisaragi with the one-inch punch. Gentaro fell onto the ground with a gasp, his shirt and jacket torn and his face covered with bruises. Tears fell down Mei's eyes as she understood what those cards meant: Ryusei's obstacle to completeing his goal was Gentaro, and the reason Gentaro had no ambition was because he wouldn't be alive to have one.

Meteor's suit faded away, revealing Ryusei Sakuta just as Mei predicted. The Kamen Rider Club looked on in disbelief, but Aries Zodiarts just smirked.

"Well done, Sakuta," said Yamada, approaching Ryusei. "You completed your end of the bargain?"

_Bargain? _Mei thought to herself, hands trembling. _Ryusei made a deal with that sheep devil?! Why? Why could he have done such a thing?!_

As if to answer her mental question, Ryusei began to speak.

"I teamed up with Yamada to revive Jiro," he explained. "To do that, I needed Aries' power. Aries was the only one who could've saved him."

When Ryusei uttered the name Jiro, Mei could've slapped herself across the face. Why did she not see that sooner? The whole reason Ryusei came to Madame Pollux was to know about Jiro's recovery. She unknowingly caused Ryusei to commit murder because she stayed longer in the tent. This was all her fault...

"I see..." Gentaro gasped, lifting his head. He let out a deep breath. "It all comes together...When you fought like this, I thought I understood you for the first time. Ryusei...I can accept your true heart and feelings...I'm happy...even if it...killed...me..."

Gentaro lowered his eyes, death taking over him at last. His reading had finally come to pass.

_No..._Mei felt the tears pouring down her face. _This wasn't how it was supposed to end! Gentaro can't die! Why couldn't it have been something positive?! Why does it have to be this way! Why Ryusei? Why did you have to fulfill the Nine of Rods this way?! Couldn't you have done it without death? Why, why, WHY?!_

She tried to her stifle her sobs, but felt her mind grow drowzy. She turned to see Aries Zodiarts pointing his staff at her, emitting the golden mist that caused her fellow students to fall asleep. Her eyes began to grow heavy as she recalled the Hanged Man and her hesitation. She didn't tell Ros and Guil about the cards that were in Ryusei's Tarot Reading and went to see everything head on. She could've been there to stop the fighting...now she was going to be put in a never-ending sleep.

_Why was fate not on my side?_ She thought to herself as everything faded to black. _Where did I go wrong?_

* * *

**Next time: Mei's troubles aren't over yet. After narrowly escaping death, she must confront her personal fears as she relies on her Tarot Deck to escape the horrors that she witnessed between Ryusei and Gentaro. However, The World still states that a stage in her life is about to end soon, but what is it? **

**Next reading-The Six of Swords (inverted)**


	3. Six of Swords (D)

**Wheel of Fortune**

Note: Takes place during II Genesis of "Horseshoes and Hand-grenades"

**Reading 3: Six of Swords (Inverted)**

"_Everybody sooner or later has to drop the luggage and baggage of illusions."_

_-Carlos Santana_

Mei let out a moan as she found Ros and Guil staring at her. Ros, or was it Guil, let out a small sigh of relief.

"Well," said Guil, or was it Ros, placing a hand on Mei's shoulder. "Looks like our little princess finally wakes up."

"What happened?" asked Mei, placing a hand on her forehead. "Where am I? How long was I out?"

"You're back in your house and in your own bedroom," said Ros. "It's about time you woke up, Sleeping Beauty. You've been out of it for four days."

"FOUR DAYS?!" Mei screamed, sitting up.

"Nah, it was just a few hours."

Ros laughed at his joke. Mei replied with a kick to his stomach.

"That wasn't funny," She said. "What happened? Where's Ryusei? And where's Gentaro?"

"No one found Ryusei, and those students from Amanogawa High didn't want to talk about them," said Guil. "They were in some sort of daze, asking where they were, what happened, etc. It's like they just blanked out."

"As for Gentaro," Ros added. "He's gone. Yamada was sent into a coma and Gentaro died from fighting him. The Amanogawa students won't say anything—even they don't know what happened."

Mei clenched her hand into a fist and placed it near her heart. So what she saw was true—the upright Nine of Rods and the inverted The Emperor were one and the same. One would be successful in their future, the other wouldn't.

"...Get out." she whispered.

"What?" asked Guil. "Mei, are you feeling okay. Why don't you say something to your fri-"

"You aren't my friends!" Mei barked. "You're just doing that because of Yamada's stupid script. Drop that act and never talk to me again!"

"Is that anyway to talk to us?" Ros demanded, grabbing onto Mei's wrist. He snarled. "We could've left you there to die, you know!"

"Treat others the way you wish to be treated. I didn't see you speaking words of encouragement to Gentaro. And besides, are we _truly_ friends? Or do you just want me to feel bad that you aren't brave enough to vocalize your thoughts? You were brave enough to make sarcastic remarks about Gentaro, but where were you when I needed advice on my dreams or Madame Pollux? Huh? Where were you, Rosencrantz and Guildenstern? Oh, I know! You were DEAD when I needed you the most!"

Mei stayed silent as she watched Ros and Guil slowly back away. After another minute of silence, the two left her room, closing the door behind them. When she found it quiet enough, she went to her pillow and began to cry. Her world was falling down on her. She didn't know what to make of it now. What was going to happen next?

To calm her mind, and to give her some hope for the future, Mei went to her tarot deck in her backpack. She just stared at it, afraid of looking at the type of choices she had in front of her. Instead of shuffling the deck like she usually did, she just drew a card from random and looked at it. It depicted a young boy ferrying a hooded person over a body of water. To the left of the boat, the water was still. To the right, the water was disturbed and choppy. Resting on the boat were six silver swords, their tips stabbing the boat, but the card itself was upside down.

"Inverted Six of Swords," she muttered. "It represents the emotional baggage that I can't let go of..." she gripped onto her tarot deck in anger. "No fucking duh!"

In her rage she threw her deck toward her closet. The cards splattered all over the floor in its wake. Mei tossed the Six of Swords into the mix before she noticed one closest to her mirror. It was the upward The World—the card that was going to depict her future. She closed her eyes shut and began to sob when she recalled what The World meant—the current phase of her life was going to end soon, but she didn't want to know what it meant.

As Mei began to sob into her pillow, she did not see the serpent staring at her once again. Mei didn't care at that point. All she wanted to do was cry herself into a dreamless sleep.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

A few days later, Gentaro's funeral service was held.

Mei didn't seem to surprised when she didn't see heads or tails of Ros or Guil at the service, but she was utterly amazed at how many people that actually came. Aside from Gentaro's fellow Kamen Rider Club members, she also saw numerous Amanogawa High students and assorted people that knew Gentaro in the past. This included young boys and girls, elderly women, students from other schools Gentaro attended in the past, and so on. Everyone was wearing white in mourning of this great man.

Gentaro's grandfather, who was Gentaro's only living relative was giving a speech explaining Gentaro's life and view of friendship. It made Mei feel sick inside—she never got to know Gentaro outside of seeing him promise to save her and all of Subaruboshi High and his death. Even his tarot reading didn't give enough to help her compose his biography.

Mei looked into her purse. For some odd reason she had the nerve to bring her tarot deck to something as morbid as this funeral. She recalled the future cards for Ryusei, Gentaro and herself. Somehow she had this sick feeling that they were all going to be connected sooner or later.

She turned to where the Kamen Rider Club, plus their faculty adviser, were at the front row, all of them in silent mourning of their club leader. Mei didn't know Gentaro for a single day, but the Kamen Rider Club knew Gentaro longer than she had. If only there was a way to know what would happen to them.

"_There is..._" a sibilant voice hissed in Mei's mind. _"Their fate is in your hands..."_

Mei gasped as she looked around. There was that hissing noise, but now she heard a voice accompanying it. Who was this strange being speaking to her? Why did they want to speak to her?

"W-who's there?" Mei whispered. "Who are you?"

"_You'll find out in time," _The voice answered. _"This wouldn't be the first time we met though."_

"W-what do you mean?"

"_Like I said, 'You'll find out in time.' Now, do you want to draw the cards or shall I? Do not worry about being exposed. No one can see you at this moment. It is just you and I, Mei Shirakawa. You are safe here until all the cards have been drawn."_

Mei looked around and the voice in her head was right. No one could see her. They were all busy at the funeral service and the giant altar of flowers for Gentaro. Mei saw the picture that showed Gentaro's beaming smiles and wise eyes, feeling sick to her stomach at how she inadvertedly lead to his death. She placed a hand in her purse and pulled out her tarot deck. She began to shuffle the cards, thinking of the question that she would be asking that day.

"Please," she whispered. "What will happen to the Kamen Rider Club? What is their fate, dear deck?"

When she finished her shuffling, she found a peculiar site. The deck hovered in the air, all 78 cards outlined with a golden aura. They wrapped around her in a tornado, all of them about to lift Mei into the air. Once again, no one paid attention to this. She didn't understand what was going on. Why were her cards doing this? And who was doing this?

"_Choose the card that represents the past," _the voice whispered. _"You've done this before."_

Mei slowly nodded her head as she took a card into her hands. It depicted a large golden orb stamped with a pentacle in a grasp of a hand. It rested above a garden and trellis of roses.

"Ace of Pentacles," she whispered. "Gentaro gave the Kamen Rider Club the gift of friendship and unity. It was a valuable gift that laid out the club's foundations to this very day...I wish I could say the same with _my_ friends."

The cards began to spin around as Mei looked left and right, waiting for the right card to appear. She took one from her left, seeing a young man resting in a throne draped with a canopy in the appearance of stars. In his hands was a large wand, and in front of the throne was a black and white sphinx, respectively. The card was upside down.

"An inverted The Chariot," Mei said to herself. "With Gentaro gone, they don't know what to do with their life. Gentaro was the one to bring them together, but what happens to them now? Will they be able to fight the Zodiarts threat without his influence? Will the club disband? There's too many questions assosicated with this card."

She took a deep breath as she concentrated on the last card. This future card was the most important one: she drew the cards that would show her their fate. Then, a thought hit her. Could she pick a card that would help _decide_ their fate? If she chose an upward card, would that mean things will be good for them? That's what everyone would want now, wouldn't it? That was what _Gentaro _would want...

Mei brought her hand out and snatched a card. When she opened her eyes, she thought that she had something positive. It depicted a woman cloaked in red, sitting on a throne, a sword in her right hand and some scales in her left. It looked very positive...if it wasn't for the fact it was upside down.

"An inverted Justice," she said. "This isn't good. It means to take responsibility for actions and that the Club's opinion is now skewered and full of bias. What is it though? Does the bias stem from Ryusei killing Gentaro? I mean, Ryusei wanted to save Jiro, but death isn't the answer! Death...is the cause of all of this suffering and sadness."

"_Is it? Death has some benefits also...you should know all about this, Shirakawa-san. After all, you were the one who made the reading to decide Sakuta's fate."_

Before Mei had time to explain that it wasn't exactly her giving the reading to Ryusei, the cards gathered in her hands, returning to their form as her tarot deck. She quickly placed it inside her purse as she waited for the service to finish. There was an uneasy feeling in her gut that just screamed that something was wrong. She wanted to let go of Ryusei killing Gentaro, but couldn't. It wasn't every day that she saw a friend of hers kill someone and exclaim that said person must die for him. It also wasn't every day that a voice in her head started to speak to her.

_My life will never be the same..._she thought to herself. _I know that myself, and that is all...My 'World' is about to change. For the better or worse, that is for me to decide._

While she sat there, she didn't pay attention to Ryusei Sakuta standing farther away, looking at the funeral service with a detached attitude. He stared at the Meteor Astroswitch in hand as he recalled what he told the Kamen Rider Club days before.

"_Sometimes, there are things that only a devil is capable of."_

* * *

**Next time: Mei knows that her life is never going to be the same, but she's not ready to take the first step to actually make those changes. She's back to shuffling her deck and staring at the window like things haven't changed. But things have, and she needs to be ready to face them head on.**

**Next reading: The Knave of Pentacles (Inverted)**


	4. Knight of Coins (D)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 4: Knight of Coins (Inverted)**

"_This is the lesson that history teaches: repetition."_

_-Gertrude Stein_

That night at dinner, Mei lazily stirred her bowl of miso soup round and round, not even noticing that the soup had gone cold. Her mother and father were quietly eating their meals, neither of them asking if their daughter was all right. Mei was already used to this silence: they were okay in the morning, but they were all ready absorbed with their own problems at night.

"Mei-chan," said Taeko, her mother. She noticed her daughter's still full plate and said, "Are you not hungry? I cooked all of your favorites tonight."

"_No you didn't," _Mei thought to herself. In front of her was some grilled mackerel on a bed of rice, some _gyoza_ and a side of pickled cucumbers. _"My favorite foods are teriyaki salmon, cream crab croquettes and carrot pickles."_

"I'm not feeling too well," Mei said aloud, setting her chopsticks down. "I'm still sad about the funeral."

"I don't even know why you wanted to go there in the first place," said Sion, Mei's father. "You barely even knew that...that...delinquent. I bet he died in some kind of fight with another gang."

"_You don't even know the half of it," _Mei took the bowl of cold miso soup to her lips, drinking all of its contents down. _"Gentaro died trying to save Subaruboshi High...and no one will truly know what happened to him."_

"And what about your problems at school?" asked Taeko. "You've been getting reports of you just staring out of the classroom window and not even responding to questions when called upon. Don't you care about your future?"

"_Of course I do, Mother. I don't start smoking six packs of cigarettes on the weekends or drink sake for four hours straight like you and dad do when you take 'vacation'."_

"I do," Mei answered back, ripping apart the mackeral with her chopsticks. She picked out the bones inside as she continued to speak. "And I care a lot about my friends."

"That's not what I heard from them when they left the house," said Sion. "They got very aggravated at you for yelling at them for no good reason. Please Mei, talk to us."

"_And what do I say?" _Mei narrowed her eyes as she began shoveling rice and mackerel into her mouth._ "'Oh, I have to be quiet because there's this son of a bitch that decides to put people to sleep if they don't behave the way they're supposed to. Plus those friends of mine? They were scripted to be my friends and they're complete jerks from beginning to end! '_

"_They didn't show any concern about Gentaro's well-being, nor did they even care about that time I was Madame Pollux. I know that something happened that day, but no one believed me. Not even Azusa-sensei..." _Mei set her chopsticks over her plate and stood up.

"I'm done eating," she said simply. "Thanks for everything."

Before her parents even had a chance to say anything else, Mei rushed toward her room and slammed the door shut.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

Mei was on her laptop, too depressed to do homework or to check her emails. She was currently on some chatroom known as "Dynasty-for-Hire", scrolling down through anonymous people talking about different types of stuff.

**Midnight: So did you hear that Apostle of Sleep is in the hospital?**

Mei's eyes blinked. "Apostle of Sleep" was the name Yamda gave himself when he was the Aries Zodiarts. Could it be possible...no, it was just a coincidence.

**Yoko: Yeah, I heard that his parents are in mourning as of late. His older sister ran away a couple of years back, right? No one's seen her since.**

Older sister? Mei started to get more intrigued with what she was reading.

**Mitsuko: He told me about this whole thing he was doing in memory of his older sister. He thinks she died a few years back during the big suicide jump.**

"Suicide jump?" Mei remembered hearing something about it. There were at least twenty girls in uniforms who jumped off of a building. There were no survivors.

**Mitsuko: Yamada used to be a nice kid, but he now sees the world as some sort of theatrical show. I think it's his way of trying to keep those happy times in him before he has to face the reality of growing up just like his sister did. Or maybe he's trying to prevent something like the suicides from ever happening again.**

**Midnight: That does explain why he gave 'that girl' the role of "quiet girl at the window"...**

Wait a minute, that was her! Mei felt her heart beat against her chest as she continued to read.

**Midnight: He saw a bit of himself in her. This girl was worried over one of her friends and became withdrawn just like how he felt when he lost his sister. To ease her loneliness, Yamada gave her that "quiet girl" role. It proves that he has a heart somewhere.**

**Yoko: He also left her all of those Shakespeare notes and asked those two guys in the Literature Club to bring her in to ease her loneliness. Too bad Yamada didn't seem to notice the type of jerks they were and...**

Mei shut the laptop down and placed it on her bedside before she read anything else. She felt her mind spinning out of control from what she knew, what she just learned, and what she was afraid to learn. How could Yamada create something so ugly and yet have people praise it to be so beautiful? Why was she the one who was spared? Why was he that secret admirer of hers?

Feeling frustrated, she dove toward her Tarot Deck and shuffled the cards. She hadn't drawn a daily Tarot Card ever since she told Ros and Guil to beat it. If there was anything that could get her to not think of her dilemma, it was drawing a Tarot Card.

"_Please let it be good..." _She said to herself. _"Please give me something good..."_

When she finished shuffling, Mei swiftly drew a card and frowned. The card was once again inverted, depicting a knight riding on a black horse, a golden orb with a pentacle in hands.

"Inverted Knight of Coins," she said in disgust. "My life's become repetition and boredom. Hah. That's more of Yamada's life now, seeing as he's stuck in that coma and all."

She slipped the card back to her deck and slammed it on top of her laptop. She turned off the lights and fell to an uneasy sleep, wishing to forget everything that happened that day and to just worry about what would happen when she got to school tomorrow.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-0**

The next day, Mei found everyone trying to adjust to no longer being in some sort of script. She looked at the chalkboard and saw the teacher doing a last-minute seating chart. Had it really been three months since the positions were changed? It was a scary thought to think about.

Mei sighed a bit in relief when she found that her desk was in the back row. The teacher barely called anyone in the back, and it would give her time to just ponder what she learned so far. She didn't talk to any of her friends—if she had any at this point, seeing Ros and Guil looking pretty miffed at her outburst—but instead walked toward her desk, brought out a notebook and pencil, and prepared for the day ahead of her.

Thirty minutes into class, Mei found herself drifting to what she had learned so far: Ryusei's fortune told him to kill someone to save Jiro, Gentaro would never walk amongst the Earth once more, Yamada was actually a nice guy but was twisted into something evil, Ros and Guil were assigned to be her friends, and there was a strange voice that was talking to her. Nothing was adding up, as shown by each of the names she wrote having arrows pointed to a large question mark in the center of her notebook.

"_Everything is connected to one another," _the voice whispered in Mei's head. Mei nearly dropped her pencil in shock. _"The question now is, are you connected to yourself? Can you answer that truly, Shirakawa-san?"_

"_Who are you?" _Mei thought in her mind, looking around. No one else was hearing this voice. This made her nervous. _"What do you want?"_

"_I'm just wanting to observe you a little bit to see what you uncovered. Don't you think it's time to read someone's fortune? It's time to decide someone's fate."_

As Mei heard those words, she found the world turning grey. It was just like that time at the funeral service. No one was paying attention to her at all. She slowly pulled out her tarot deck and began to shuffle it. As she did, she didn't focus on herself, her parents, Ros and Guil or anyone. For some strange reason, her mind was focused on Yamada, the boy who caused Ryusei and Gentaro's fate to intertwine.

"_He doesn't deserve a happy future," _Mei thought bitterly. _"If it wasn't for him, Subaruboshi wouldn't have suffered tyranny, Ryusei wouldn't have had to murder someone and Gentaro...Gentaro would still be here..."_

Once she finished her shuffling, the cards floated into the air, spinning all around Mei once more. She took a deep breath as she plucked a card in mid-air. This card was upright, depicting a man approaching a town, carrying ten long rods in his hands.

"An upward Ten of Rods to start," she said. "He reaped the harvest he created, and that harvest was Subaruboshi High. Motherfucking tyrant..."

She slammed the card onto the desk before reaching out for another card in her fury. This one depicted a naked woman on bended knee near a sparkling pool and a foot in the water. She carried two clay jars filled with water, one pouring down the grass and the other replenishing the pool. Above the woman's head seven white stars and one large yellow one, each containing eight points. The card was inverted, in contrast with its upright counterpart.

"An inverted The Star as the present," said Mei. "He's feeling despair in his present state. Well, that's what you get when you're stuck in a coma after karma's done with you." she set the card down and stared at it. "He doesn't need a happy future. His present _is_ his future."

"_Is it?" _asked the voice. _"Is that for you to decide? He can't decide since he isn't awake to draw the fortune, right?"_

Mei hesitated, biting her lip in contemplation. While it's true that it was up to her to draw the Tarot Card, that didn't actually mean that whatever she drew would be the _exact_ card to tell his future. There were 152 readings that could be used to reveal Yamada's future, and thus 152 ways to show how the future will play out. What would happen if Mei could draw just one exact future, the one she wanted? The one where Yamada never got out of his coma and became a vegetable?

She shook her head. No, even though Yamada deserved to be in the coma, giving him a death wish wasn't her. At the very least, she should at least give him the chance to wake up and have his parents be in relief that they hadn't lost both of their children. With a sigh of defeat, she traced a circle in the air with a finger before catching a card that caught her eye. It depicted a young boy working in a cathedral, discussing to two monks on his progress. Above their heads were three orbs stamped with stars. This one, for better or worse, was upright.

"An upright Three of Pentacles for the future," she said. "He'll be having a happy future when he wakes up from that coma. This card talks about working together to create something new. I pity the poor fool who has to work with that psychopath."

"_You never know when your words will come back to haunt you Shirakawa-san," _the voice chuckled. _"Are you satisfied with your reading? We can always do another one..."_

"No," Mei answered, seeing the cards gather and form a perfectly stacked deck. "That's all for now. However, I'd wish to know something about you."

"_What is it?"_

"Why are you following me? Why are you specifically talking to me and no one else?"

"_You'll learn that in due time, Shirakawa-san. For now, let's get back to class and to your time with your best friends. After all, best friends don't keep secrets from one another, right?"_

Mei narrowed her eyes as she placed her tarot deck back into her purse. As the scenery began to gain its color, she took a glance at Ros and Guil in the front row. She knew that whatever she was going to learn about them wasn't going to be nice.

Great. Just great.

Taking her pencil into her hand, Mei began to scribble something under sentence about Yamada.

**Yamada Tatusmori: (symbol for Aries) Apostle of Sleep, harbinger of doom, lost a sister, has a crush on me/felt pity for me, has a happy future (?)**

She then flipped her notebook to a new page as she began to copy down the lecture notes for class. Once the bell rang for lunch, trailing Ros and Guil would be her next priority.

* * *

Translation notes:

Gyoza: Japanese dumplings similar to Chinese Pot Stickers

* * *

**Next time: Mei eavesdrop on a conversation with Ros and Guil, and finds herself shocked, betrayed and filled with disgust. Will she cross the deep end to decide on a horrible future for them both? Or will she walk away and pretend she never heard them speak in the first place**

**Next reading: The Emperor (Inverted)**


	5. IV The Emperor (D)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 5: IV The Emperor (Inverted)**

"_Ambition should be made of sterner stuff."_

_-William Shakespeare_

If there was anything that Mei Shirakawa hated more than having leftovers for lunch, it was having leftovers for lunch while thoughts were churning in her brain. Staring at her bento box, she could only recall the quiet atmosphere at home as her parents tried to chide her about her aloofness while being oblivious to the fact that their daughter didn't want to be bothered there and then. She couldn't exactly blame them for not knowing about Yamada's tyranny over the school. If she and her parents switched places, she'd pretty much ask her children to stop making up convoluted lies.

Before eating, she took out her Tarot Deck and shuffled it. She took a glance at Ros and Guil as she drew her card, being reunited with a familiar face.

"An inverted The Emperor," Mei said. "No ambition or self-control to be found, now where have I seen that before? Oh right, that was _Gentaro's_ fate. I highly wonder whether or not Rosencrantz and Guildenstern will die so soon?"

She pulled out her notepad and began to look at all of the recent readings she had drawn. The ones she were mostly focused on were the cards she drew for their future and the little note she made for them all.

**Ryusei: Nine of Rods (Up): Killing Gentaro in order to save Jiro**

**Gentaro: The Emperor (Down): Having no ambition or self-control due to dying for the sake of Ryusei's friendship.**

**Me: The World (Up): Phase of my life over (Although I don't know what it is)**

**Kamen Rider Club: Justice (Down): Their judgment over something has become biased.**

**Yamada: Three of Coins (Up): Will collaborate with other people into getting something done.**

Mei frowned at the last reading. The day Yamada has his happy ending future was the day she personally went up to him and kiss him on the lips. When he was free from his coma.

She sighed and said a silent prayer to herself before she began to eat. Everyone around her was trying to think of things to say to one another, many of them still trying to adjust to being themselves after Yamada's tyranny ended. _How_ it ended was the confusing part. Who stopped Yamada and why was he in a coma? Where was Ryusei and would people still like him if they found out about his betrayal to the enemy?

"_I just want to know why Ryusei decided to kill Gentaro in the end..."_ she thought to herself. _"You hesitated just as you were about to deliver that punch. You didn't want to go through with this, so why didn't you make that choice and walk away? Was Jiro's well-being worth killing a fellow human?"_

Mei let out a sigh as she picked up her chopsticks and ate the leftover mackerel. She finished one and a half slices when she saw Ros and Guil leaving the classroom. Seeing as this was her only chance to hear what was going on, she grabbed her notepad and tarot deck and began to trail them. The two were still talking amongst themselves, either too arrogant, or too stupid, to notice their 'best friend' trailing them.

"I can't believe that son of a bitch wanted us to be that little girl's best friend," Ros scoffed. "Who wants to be friends with a girl who looks into Tarot Cards for company?"

"She's probably like that kid in the manga who wanted to make a wish on that puzzle," Guil commented. "Hello? No one wants to be your friend if you're stuck playing games all your life!"

"I just hope that the paycheck we get actually is worthy of going over that little bitch's obsession with finding out what happened on that day in that shitty fortune teller robe she was dresed in." Ros pulled out something from his pocket. Mei gasped as she saw the wad of yen banknotes in his hand. "Although, what we've been getting with our other small services hasn't been that bad.."

"At least we didn't have to act so 'goody-goody' once Mei was no longer in our sights." Guil noted, shrugging his shoulders. "I hated putting up that damned fake smile to her parents."

Mei had never felt so betrayed in her life. First she learns that Yamada had sympathy for her, but now the people he assigned to her were being _paid_ to be her friends? She began to doubt if the two were even real students! Actually, now that she thought about it, no one knew about Ros or Guil prior to around the time that Yamada...

She balled her hands into fists as she saw the world turned grey around her. The cards in her hand began to spin out of control as if to shield her from her own rage. Angry tears fell down her face as she said, "Those assholes are going to pay!"

Mei concentrated on Ros and Guil, trying to figure out everything she knew prior to everything falling apart. They came together as part of an 'exchange program' and formed the Literature Club, inviting Mei to join them. As she did, she saw a card hovering toward her. It depicted the tomb of a knight in a church, a sword on the side of the tomb and three swords pointing downwards.

"A Four of Swords," she said. "Rest and Recovery. If what they say is true, they were hired to do something low-key compared to the other services they had that paid them well. But what about now? What is in their present day and present time?"

Some of the cards parted until there were at least twenty cards in front of her. Mei concentrated and waved a hand into the air, pointing at a random card. The card flew into her hand, revealing a wizened man dressed in a hooded cloak with a lantern in hand. Inside the lantern was a bright six-pointed star. The card was upside down.

"An inverted The Hermit," said Mei. "Those bastards are looking inward toward themselves? I highly doubt that, what with all the money they were flashing around...I want a future so agonizing for them that they'll realize what selfish assholes theyv'e been. Mocking Gentaro for how he looked...proclaming to be my friends, not even having the balls to send Gentaro off to the great beyond..."

As she spoke, she didn't see her eyes glowing white or the white aura that began to radiate amongst five Tarot Cards. In her rage she snatched one up and looked at it in fury. Like the previous card, this one was inverted. It depicted a king dressed in a robe depicting grapes hanging on the vine, relaxing on a throne with bull heads decorating it. In his hands was a golden staff and a coin stamped with a familiar star. He sat in front of a large castle, proud of the wealth he had obtained.

"An inverted King of Pentacles," she smirked. "Interpretations include: wanting of material items, not having as much commitment and devotion to a partner, mis-use of power, family abuse and such. A fitting end to Rosencrantz and Guildenstern. After all, they died without realizing their own fate."

"_I see you've become sadistic, Shirakawa-san..." _the voice giggled. _"Your fortune is becoming quite grand while these pathetic losers will get what's coming to them."_

"That's right," Mei replied, seeing the world regain their color. "I wonder how long I'll have to wait until I see the reading in action."

Ros stopped walking and turned on his cellphone. He then placed it near his ear. "Hello?" he asked. "Yes...yes...what? No, but...it can't be! Not now...why..." He hung the phone and turned to Guil. "They want us to be Easy Marks to some drunkards."

"What are they thinking?!" asked Guil, his eyes wide with fear. "Do you know what happens to those who become Easy Marks? They stay with the people who hire them for at most ten years, and they have to take on all the abuse of scars, slapping, and death! Who would do such a thing?"

"That Torizaki got that punishment a while back. Now her life's become a living hell. Why does the company want us to take the job?"

"Easy money, that's all," Ros kicked a stray soda can to the side. "Damn it! As if being sponges to that whiny bitch's crying wasn't enough..."

The two continued to walk off as Mei stared at her Tarot Deck. What came over her? She knew that Ros and Guil were monsters, but that didn't mean she had to stoop down to their level. She wasn't the only one who suffered during Yamada's reign, but she was the one who knew what was truly going on.

"_That's exactly right," _said the voice. _"Those ignorant sheep were lead astray by shepherds who don't even know where they're going. You know what you wanted and you grasped it. That makes you better than them."_

Mei slowly nodded her head as she walked back to her classroom. What she saw during her reading was very exhilirating, but also made her confused. Ros and Guil's future was interpreted just like how the inverted King of Pentacles read. Would that mean that Yamada's Three of Pentacles will also play out just like it is? Will her The World card signal the end of the old and the start of something new?

She sat down at her desk and begna to eat her lunch once more. The voice in her head wasn't speaking, which gave Mei some time to focus on how the rest of the day would go. Hopefully, she wouldn't have to worry about hearing anymore terrible news.

"Shirakawa-san! Shirakawa-san!" cried a voice. Rushing into the classroom was the PE teacher, Azusa-sensei. Azusa saw Mei in the corner and ran to her desk. "Mei, you have to come to the counselor's office. Now."

"What for?" asked Mei. "I haven't been doing anything bad recently...then again, no one wanted to be doing anything bad recently."

"It's not that! Just come with me!" Azusa grabbed onto Mei and pulled her away from her desk. "Come on!"

Mei, still holding onto her tarot deck, walked down the hallway until they entered the counselor's office. The counselor, known simply as 'Komori', watched Mei and Azusa-sensei sit down, closing the door behind them.

"What's going on?" asked Mei. "Why am I here?"

"Mei-chan," Komori began. "There's something you need to know. It's about..."

"My mother? My father? Who is it? What's going on?"

"It's about your old friend, Jiro Inseki," Komori stated. "Mei, I really hate to be the bearer of bad news, but..."

"But what?" Mei felt her heart beat against her chest, fearing for the worst. She placed a hand on her heart as she asked, "What's going on? Is he all right?"

"Jiro Inseki...is no longer with us," Komori answered. "He died just a few hours ago due to heart failure. I'm very sorry."

Mei didn't know what to say after hearing it. She recalled Ryusei smiling at his fortune, truly believing that he was going to be able to save Jiro from his coma. She remembered seeing Ryusei as Kamen Rider Meteor, hesitating to kill Fourze. She saw Fourze, reverting into his true identity as Gentaro Kisaragi, dying happily by sacrificing himself to let Jiro live. As more and more memories came into her mind, Mei did the only thing she could think of.

She let out a loud and unearthly scream.

* * *

**Next time: What is Mei to do? Gentaro's death was all for naught, and Ryusei still has blood on his hands. Plus, she is soon going to meet face to face with the voice in her head, and it is then that she must decide then and now what her fate is going to be.**

**Next reading, XX Judgment (Upward)**


	6. XX Judgment (U)

**Wheel of Fortune**

Note: Takes place during V Wavemaster of "Horseshoes and Hand-grenades"

**Reading 6: XX Judgment (Up)**

"_Good judgement comes from experience, and a lot of that comes from bad judgment."_

_-Will Rogers_

Mei Shirakawa was not having a good day. That was for certain.

She was too depressed to finish school, so she was excused for the rest of the day. Her mother, who was at home working on an important paper, was quite frustrated when she heard of her daughter's behavior. It took Mei a lot of pleading, and a promise to cook dinner for two weeks, to get her mother to leave her at the hospital where Jiro was. She could at least say goodbye to Jiro before he was going to be sent to the crematorium.

"Have you no shame?" said Taeko, seeing her daughter's sullen face in the rear view mirror. "I should've never given you that tarot deck in the first place. All you do these days is use it to forecast predictions that never happen. You need to face the facts, Mei."

"_Only when you decide to face the fact that you and dad are horrible parents." _Mei thought to herself, shuffling her tarot deck in her hands. _"I want to know what type of future is going to happen to us all. I want us all to be happy, but that's never going to happen, is it?"_

As she blocked out the whining and complaining from her mother, she drew a card from the middle of the deck. It depicted a multitude of souls rising from their tombs at the call of an archangel's trumpet. This card was upright.

"_An uprightJudment..." _Mei thought to herself. _"It's when I come to a realization of my own life and finding absolution in myself..." _She searched through her deck before finding the upright The World card. _"Could it have something to do with my future? If it does, will it be happy?"_

Taeko parked the car near the front of the hospital. Mei took this as her cue to thank her mother and leave the car, rushing toward the front office. Once she made it to the front desk, she immediately asked, "I want to see Jiro Inseki. Where is he?"

The woman behind the counter looked at Mei and sighed. "I'm sorry, I can't let you do that." she said.

"What? Why?" Mei exclaimed. "Jiro is my friend! I need to see him before-"

"His parents forbid anyone to enter the room since they're preparing to send him to the crematorium," the woman explained. She took Mei's hands into her own. "I really wish I could do something about the situation, but this is out of my league. I give your friend my greatest condolences, though."

"No!" Mei screamed, causing the other employees to stare at her. "This can't be happening! Jiro...Ryusei...Gentaro...why is everyone going crazy?"

She barged out of the hospital, ready to just go home and cry into her pillow. Or at least, that was the original plan had it not been for Taeko Shirakawa driving off without her own daughter. Mei tried to call out for her mother, but the mother didn't listen—or at least, didn't acknowledge her own daughter's voice. Mei could only stare at the empty spot where the car used to be before she began to sob once more. Was this was her life has become? Where was she going to find salvation and absolution when the whole world just hated her with a downright passion?

"Jiro," she whispered, hands covering her face. "Jiro, you can't be gone!"

While she cried, she didn't pay attention to two girls approaching her. She did hear them talking about Ryusei and Gentaro, which made her turn to them. One of the girls had long black hair going past her shoulders. Something clicked in her mind—she knew this person.

"Yuki!" Mei cried. "It's me, Mei Shirakawa!"

"Ah!" cried Yuki, pointing at Mei. "You're Ryusei's girlfriend! What happened?"

At the thought of never being Ryusei's girlfriend (or just staying his friend after what he caused), Mei turned away, trying to hide the tears falling onto the road.

"I heard that Jiro wasn't feeling well and went to the hospital," she explained. "He's lost his will to live and now...he's dead!" Mei continued to wail, pulling out a bandanna from her pocket and dabbed her eyes with it. Yuki immediately rushed toward Mei and began to hug her, running a hand down the poor girl's back.

"It's all right," said Yuki. "Everything will be all right."

"No it won't," Mei hiccuped. "We're all doomed..."

She continued to cry some more, not even noticing when Yuki had to leave her behind. When she finally realized this, she felt even worse. There was no one to help her in the end. She was all alone.

"_You are not alone, Shirakawa-san." _The voice hissed. _"I will ease your loneliness if you do one thing for me."_

Mei, so desperate for companionship, just nodded her head and asked, "What would you want me to do?"

"_Take your life."_

Mei opened her eyes as she saw a dagger floating in mid-air, its handle decorated by a golden snake. As if it was held by an invisible hand, it circled around her, mocking her, tempting her to take it and end her life there and then.

"_It'll be painless, Shirakawa-san." _The voice continued. _"As painless as that Kisaragi character died while confessing his happiness to see Ryusei be happy. In order to have people be happy, some must suffer. For Ryusei's happiness, everyone he cared about suffered. For your parents' happiness, you are left behind. For those dramatists, the only happiness they gained was the fat paycheck they got in the end. Who shall suffer so you can smile?"_

"...That'll be me," Mei answered, grabbing onto the dagger. She saw her reflection in the blade before she placed it near her stomach. "I hope I find happiness in another life."

Taking her final breath, she began to commit _seppuku_ on herself.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

It was dark. That was the first thing that came into Mei's mind.

"_Shirakawa-san..."_ That voice echoed in the darkness. _"Wake up, Shirakawa-san..."_

Mei moaned and sat up, hand over her stomach. It felt as if someone stuck a knife there so they could start embalming her in salt. Oh wait, _she_ was the one who did that.

"Where am I?" she asked, slowly standing up. "Am I in the afterlife? And Voice, where are you? Show yourself!"

"_As you wish, Shirakawa-san."_

A pair of gold eyes appeared in the darkness as a figure appeared. It was a large cobra covered in grey scales. It let out a light chuckle.

"_How do you do?" _asked the serpent. _"I am Renenutet, the Serpent of Divine Fate. I am pleased to meet you at long last."_

"You..." Mei gasped. "You're the voice who was in my head this whole time, weren't you?"

"_I have been keeping eye on you for quite some time. I sensed so much power in you with the Tarot Cards you carried on hand. One interpretation of my name actually means 'fortune', did you know that?"_

"Mine's supposed to mean happiness, but I don't look happy."

"_You humans are so funny. I understand why my other brothers and sisters took multiple Serpent-bearers in the past."_

"Serpent-bearers?" Mei's eyes widened as she recalled The World. "Is that what I'm going to become?"

"_That is for you to decide," _Renenutet answered. _"You can't exactly return to the living with that hole in your stomach, right? If you become my Serpent-bearer, then your wound will not show. I can give you prosperity beyond your wildest dreams, all for a simple price."_

"And what would that be...Renenutet?" Mei answered cautiously. She didn't mean to be hesitant, but one could never be careful with snakes.

"_I ask for your future. Give me the chance to decide your future, and I can give you what you desire. What can you do at this point of your life?"_

Mei bit her lip, recalling the multiple times she wanted to stand up against Yamada, but always chickened out at the last minute. She couldn't tell her parents to pay more attention to her, she couldn't get Ros and Guil to listen to her...she was too afraid and she would always be afraid. Her cowardice caused so much pain and suffering to herself...what would it be like if she could obtain the courage to change fate? If she sacrificed her crappy future for a chance to be strong, was it worth it?

Yes. Yes it was.

"Take my goddamn future, Renenutet," said Mei, staring eye to eye with the serpent. "It wasn't like I was gong to use it anyway."

Renenutet let out a laugh that sounded like the jingling of bells. _"You are a very interesting Serpent-bearer, Shirakawa-san." _she said._ "I can tell that you have an important role in what shall transpire very soon. Now, bring out her wrists so I can see them."_

Mei brought her arms out, pulling her sleeves back so her wrists were exposed. Renenutet transformed into a dense fog that slowly wrapped around her body. The snake's scaly body became a large grey cloak decorated with hieroglyphics. Her golden eyes were now a pair of jingling bracelets that decorated Mei's wrists. Mei pulled the hood of her new cloak over her head, hearing the bells of her new bracelets when she lifted her arms.

"I look like a gypsy," she stated. "Is it like this for all Serpent-bearers?"

"_It depends on the Serpent-bearer in question." _Renenutet answered back. _"Now, why don't we try out your new power? Do you want to draw someone's fortune to make someone else's life a little bit better?"_

"Yes, I do. I want to draw the fortune for my mother and father."

"_You want to draw for your parents' health? After what they've done for you? Your own mother left you at the hospital, expecting you to walk all the way back home and will punish you for being late even when it was their fault in the first place."_

"Who said it was those bastards?" Mei answered. "I'm drawing their fortune, but it will be for _my_ benefit. Before you love others, you must love yourself."

Renenutet let out another laugh as Mei pulled out her tarot deck. She saw her beloved cards float around her, shuffling in a dance of merriment and madness. Concentrating her thoughts regarding her earlier memories with her parents, Mei grabbed a card from behind her and looked to see what it depicted. It was upright, showing a hand holding onto an upright sword. At the tip of the sword was a crown and a wreath.

"_Ace of Swords," _ said Renenutet. _"It represents the idea of using your mental abilities to create something new. It means to pursue new ideas with much succcess."_

Mei thought to her parents at the past. They were both becoming successful at what they were doing—her father was a prominent defense attorney, and her mother was writing medical papers. Their names became famous over the past few years, but their attention toward their daughter started to wane simultaneously.

"Damn them," she said, staring at the card. "What's next?"

"_What is the present situation with them?" _asked Renenutet. _"What do you see with them?"_

Mei envisioned the quiet dinner the night before. She recalled her parents never bothering to enter her room to ask if she was all right. She grinded her teeth at how her mother, her own mother, decided to snatch the tarot deck that she gave to her daughter away. How dare she...

At least half of the deck faded into the darkness, leaving to at least three dozen cards left. Mei slowed her breathing as she felt a card come to her. Instead of being surprised, she just stared at the card going into her hand. It was upside down, revealing a young man dressed in a white tunic and red cape, wielding a wand in hand. Next to the man was a table that held a coin, a goblet and a sword. Above the man's head was the infinity symbol.

"_An inverted The Magician, how lovely!" _said Renenutet. _"This means that the once loving mom and dad are now corrupted for something. More material goods, perhaps?"_

Mei clenched her hands as she recalled hearing her mother going on a 'business vacation', and her dad was sleeping at a hotel. She was only ten back then, and she knew that meant that her parents had decided to leave her for their own material affairs. She learned how to cook, clean and do housework while her parents would sometimes be drinking in their bedroom or taking whatever type of substances they had on them. She learned not to question their behavior after some time.

"Give me a card that shows me their true self," Mei whispered. "Tarot Deck, give me my desire!"

All but one card shattered into pieces as Mei watched in awe. It was upside down, depicting an angel with one foot on land, the other touching the water. In its hands were two goblets, with water flowing inbetewen them.

"_An inverted Temperance, the symbol of imbalance." _Renenutet hissed. _"Perhaps their focus on work and themselves will rear their ugly heads sooner or later, wouldn't it? Wouldn't it be so nice to see them in agony, wasting themselves away for all of the lack of attention they gave you? Just like those two little boys are now wasting away in roles that the must keep for ten years all while drunkards and molesters can have their way with them...wouldn't that be fun?"_

Mei smiled darkly as she could see the look of horror on her parents' face. Just imagining them on their knees and begging for their own daughter's forgiveness. She could see herself doing the household chores, making them fend for themselves while _she_ took a nice long trip to Hokkaido without them.

"Of course it would, Lady Renenutet." she answered, seeing at her three cards. "Shall we put them into action."

"_So soon? My, my...it appears as someone can't wait to see what shall happen."_

"It's time to call my mom and dad out," said Mei. "After all, the door to their future has opened before me."

The three cards in hand began to glow as they transformed into a large door, engraved with a sword caressed by a pair of angelic wings. She opened the door and soon stepped into the light.

* * *

**Next time: Mei needs to recuperate in the hospital after she was found bleeding on the ground. However, this gives her a chance to uncover some stuff for her own, and to chew out her parents for their abandonment. The wheels of fate are starting to turn, but is it for the better or worse?**

**Next reading, Seven of Cups (Inverted)**


	7. Seven of Cups (U)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 7: Seven of Cups (Upward)**

"_The soul has illusions as the bird has wings: it is supported by them."_

_-Victor Hugo_

Mei woke up to the smell of alcohol, her vision blurry by the bright lights hanging above her head. The last thing she remembered was meeting up with Renenutet and becoming a "Serpent-bearer" of some sorts. She felt an aggravating pain in her head as she woke up.

"Where am I?" she said. "What happened to me?"

"You're awake! Oh thank goodness!"

Mei turned and saw the woman at the front desk approach her, a look of relief on her face. She looked at the woman's nametag pinned to her shirt. It stated that her name was "Yuka."

"Um, what happened to me, Yuka-san?" she asked. "How did I end up here?"

"I saw you collapse outside of the hospital with blood pooling out of your stomach," Yuka replied. "I got some of the staff on hand to patch you up and give you a room to recover. I also took the liberty of calling your parents so they know you're all right and-"

"You what?!" Mei exclaimed. "But why?"

"Your parents have every right to know about your near death. Besides," Yuka patted her head. "I'm sure they won't be mad, right?"

Before Mei had a chance to answer, she saw both Taeko and Sion Shirakawa enter the room, both of them angry at seeing their daughter.

"Mother...father..." Mei began, lifting her gaze to meet her parents' own. "How are you-"

SLAP!

Yuka gasped as she saw Taeko withdraw her hand. Mei didn't even cry—she already wasted too many tears the last couple of days.

"How the fuck did you even get a blade to your stomach?" asked Taeko. "Are you some sort of idiot?"

"Not as idiotic as _some_ people I know," Mei replied, rubbing her cheek. "Did I interrupt your 'inspirational getaway time'? I hope I haven't-"

"You shut your mouth this fucking instant!" said Sion, grabbing onto his daughter's collar. "We have some important business to attend and you start dying on us? We didn't raise you to-"

"You haven't raised me for years!" Mei screamed. "You two started focusing more on your jobs than me! You leave me all alone at night, you drink yourself until you start puking everywhere, something that you force me to clean up in the morning, and you don't even show concern on me nearly dying! You're sick, disgusting human beings and I _wish that you would just die!"_

"How dare you..." Sion's face was red from hearing his daughter's words. If one paid close attention, they would've seen the veins popping out of his neck. "After all we've done to give you some stability and comfort, you tell us to die? Well...I'm not going to stand for this! Come on Taeko, let's _both_ go home."

Taeko slowly nodded her head as both mother and father left. Mei stayed silent until she could no longer hear her parents' footsteps. Yuka turned her gaze back at the quiet girl and gave her a hug.

"I'm so sorry to hear about your personal troubles," she said. "I had no idea you were suffering like that."

_No one knows, and no one cares. _Mei thought to herself. _Well, except you Lady Renenutet. You care._

_I do indeed. _Renenutet replied. _Permit me to ask you a question._

_Go ahead. I'm not doing anything until I'm clear to go._

_Suppose we can't give another drawn card for your parents. We know the fortune they have for the near future, but why not draw them an extra card for...'good luck'? You never know when it might come in handy._

_I guess it wouldn't hurt._ Mei replied, seeing the world grey around them. Yuka was still hugging Mei, but the world had slowed down for Mei alone. _Do what you have to do._

Renenutet laughed as her serpentine form materialized in the grey space. Spiraling around her was Mei's tarot deck, dancing around until they landed in Mei's hands. Mei closed her eyes as she felt Renenutet circle around her.

"What card will you choose?" asked Mei. "You decide my parents' fate now."

_You understand me so well, Serpent-bearer. _Renenutet answered. _I choose...this one._

One of the cards began to glow near the bottom of the deck. Mei pulled it out, revealing seven goblets with different items floating on the surface of each. The card was upward.

"Good choice, Lady Renenutet." said Mei. "An upward Seven of Goblets represent my parents chasing the imaginary, not the realistic. Their search for money has consumed them, and they are soon chasing illusions than persuing happiness and love."

_Excellent interpretation, my sweet. Now, why don't you take a nice long rest? You've had a very horrible and exhausting day after all._

Mei nodded her head as the world began to regain its color. At the same time, Yuka released her embrace and began to walk away.

"Take care, Mei-chan," said Yuka. "Sweet dreams."

Mei nodded her head as she tucked her tarot deck under her pillow, pulled the blankets over her head and began to fall asleep. Renenutet, now all alone, smiled.

_Fortune favors those who are prepared._ She said to herself. _I guess it's time for me to prepare our fortune, right?_

Renenutet chuckled as her body began to shrink until it was human size. Her body became swathed in a dark purple cloak and a veil to cover most of her face. With her disguise ready, she disappeared into the darkness.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Stupid little bitch," Taeko swore, driving the car back to the Shirakawa residence. "I have a deadline in a few days and that medical essay needs to be perfect!"

"And I'm too busy with that big case to worry about her mental health," said Sion. "What was she thinking? No wait, she _wasn't_ thinking, wasn't she?"

"She spends too much on that tarot deck, drawing those stupid cards in an attempt to get a happy future. Who does that?!"

"You're the one who gave it in the _fucking first place_! Can't you raise that daughter to be someone other than some phony fortuneteller?! She's going to end up like the one standing in the middle of the road!"

Taeko turned her gaze to the road and quickly slammed on the brakes. The car slowly made its way to a halt. Standing in the middle of the road was a fortuneteller, her eyes shining like fireflies.

Once the car was set to park, Sion stomped his way toward the fortuneteller. The fortuneteller didn't react to the tall, vicious man, but rather just brought a hand out as if to ask for money.

"What the hell are you doing?" Sion screamed. "I have important business to do and you're in the middle of the goddamn road!"

"Will you spare me the time?" asked the fortuneteller, her voice sounding like a small child's. "Please, that's all I ask."

"I have no time to waste on someone like you. Get out of the way!"

"You offer no time for a little girl who only wishes for a little gift from someone as good as you," said the fortuneteller, pulling off her hood. "Won't you, daddy?"

Sion stepped back, seeing a seven-year-old Mei Shirakawa staring at him. The young Mei ran her hands up and down her arms.

"Why don't you come home anymore?" she asked. "Daddy, have I been bad? Daddy, why won't you look at me?"

"No…" Sion stepped back. "No, you're just an illusion! You're not the real Mei Shirakawa. You're…"

"I'm not?" The fake Mei began to cry. "Daddy, you're so mean! Daddy, do you love me? Please Daddy, I'm sorry!"

"What is going on here?" asked Taeko, walking toward her husband. "Sion what is…no…."

"Mommy, let's play!" said the young Mei. "Can you dress me up in a kimono and do my hair? How about we cook something good for daddy? Please?"

"No…" Taeko fell to her knees. "You can't be my daughter! My daughter…my daughter…"

"Is gone," The young Mei whispered. "She died when you left her alone. All she wanted was to be with you, but now she's gone. And soon…so will you."

A dark mass of shadows swirled around Sion and Taeko, the two of them holding onto each other for comfort and safety. The young girl just smiled darkly as she began to chant in a strange tongue.

"Please!" said Sion, bowing toward the strange girl. "Don't do this to us. We didn't mean to leave you behind, Mei. It was all for you. The money and everything was to ensure you had a happy future. We only wanted what was best for you…the alcohol and the cigarettes was just to free us from our stress!"

"That's right," Taeko stammered. "These deadlines were causing us trouble and we just didn't have time to focus. Please Mei…come back to us! Let's be a family again! I'll cook your favorite foods and we'll watch your favorite movies together. Please don't kill us!"

Young Mei stopped her chanting and stared into the eyes of these simpering, pathetic adults. There was some hope in their eyes, as if they were able to receive a second chance for their crimes. Then, the young girl just shook her head.

"…It's too late, mother and father," she whispered. Goodbye."

The young Mei laughed as she transformed into a large grey snake with golden eyes. Then, she opened her mouth over Sion and Taeko Shirakawa's heads.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

Back in the hospital, Mei Shirakawa was asleep. She did not know of the suffering her parents were going through, nor did she have any idea that it was Renenutet's doing. She was fast asleep in a wonderful dream.

In that dream, she was with Ryusei and Jiro, and they were all happy. They ran across a giant field of flowers where Gentaro and all of his friends were waiting for them, a big smile on his face. It was a humongous picnic with games, music and fun. It was a paradise.

Back in the real world, for the first time in so long, Mei smiled.

* * *

**Next time: Mei starts her recovery by trying to understand Ros, Guil and Yamada's stories. With Lady Renenutet's help, and some conversations with Yuka, things should be getting back on track. If only life was that simple.  
**

**Next reading, Ace of Pentacles (Inverted)**


	8. Ace of Pentacles (D)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 8: Ace of Pentacles (Inverted)**

"_Opportunity often comes disguised in the form of misfortune, or temporary defeat."_

_-Napoleon Hill_

The next morning, Mei woke up to the sound of an alarm clock chirping happily. She rolled to the side and saw that the clock on her desk read 8:00. Pressing the button to silence the alarm, she sat up. The dream was so beautiful—she wanted to stay there a bit longer.

"_Rise and shine, Serpent-bearer." _A voice hissed in her ear. _"It is time to prepare for a new day, correct?"_

Mei looked around, trying to find who spoke to her. She placed a hand on her cheek, and she remembered when her parents slapped her across the face. Once the memory faded, she lowered her head and nodded her head. Now she knew what was happening.

"You're right, Lady Renenutet," she replied, seeing the grey serpent materialize from the darkness. "How are my parents? What has happened to them?"

"_Let's just say that they will not bother us for quite some time. What do you want to do today, little one?"_

"I want to discover more about Yamada Tatsumori and his motivations in making Subaruboshi High is personal puppet theater," Mei clenched her hand into a fist. "Then, I want him to die for all of the pain and suffering he caused."

"_What about the Upward Three of Pentacles? Didn't it say that he would have a good future?"_

"Fate is very fickle, Lady Renenutet. Perhaps he's going to go through some troubled times in his coma before having a happy end. Besides, we don't know _when_ he's supposed to awaken, do we?"

Renenutet laughed as the door to Mei's hospital room open. Yuka entered, a tray containing Mei's breakfast in her hands.

"You're awake!" said Yuka. "I'm so sorry about your parents, though. I didn't know you had that sort of trouble."

"Don't be," said Mei, seeing Yuka placing her breakfast on a table. "I'll live."

"If there's anything I can do to make you feel comfortable, just say the word."

"...Can I have a laptop with internet access?" Mei asked.

**0-0-0-0-0**

After a breakfast of rice topped with fried egg, pickles, and a slice of grilled mackerel, Mei was already online on the forums that she visited just two days ago. She needed to find more and more about Yamada Tatsumori and also on Ros and Guil. The more that she could gather, the better her chances were in regards to getting to the real reason that Ryusei decided to kill Gentaro.

**Mitsuko: So did you guys hear? Ros and Guil are**** now bunking in Tatsumori's old residence.**

**Yoko: Really? Why's the company giving those two that job?**

**Midnight: Probably because of their 'superb' acting skills during their 3 months of being friends with "That girl by the window"…**

Mei had half a mind to reply that she had a name, but scrolled down and continued reading more of the conversation.

**Yoko: So how do you think Yamada got into that coma?**

**Midnight: Beats me. No one's truly sure how they did it—he just wound up in ****some sort of coma when word ****was got out. There were five teens who brought him to a hospital, all mumbling about and such as if they all got some sort of amnesia attack.**

**Mitsuko: Does anyone have the names of those teens?**

**Yuka: Nope.**

**Midnight: Sorry. Bummer, isn't it?**

_Tell me about it…_Mei thought to herself, skimming through the rest of the forum posts. After about three more pages of useless chatter, she found something that caught her eye.

**Mitsuko: You know, there's this person calling herself SplitxEnd that's looking into the boy who died, Gentaro Kisaragi.**

**Yoko: I heard of him! He's very cute and friendly! I wish he was my boyfriend! It sucks that he died before the big field trip…I had so much planned for us!**

**Midnight: What does she want?**

**Mitsuko: She left a message for KRSwan regarding the story of Ophiuchus and all of that. I don't know what type of hair-brained scheme that she's coming up—seeing as SplitxEnd is said to be one of the smartest brains in the forums—but hopefully KRSwan won't have to deal with her too much.**

"Ophiuchus?" asked Mei. "Wait, are they talking about the Serpent-bearer constellation?"

**Yoko: What does a serpent have to do with a boy's resurrection? Once you die, you die.**

**Mitsuko: Well it's better death than what Ros and Guil are going to have to go through. I mean, can you imagine the fact that they've lost both son and daughter to crazy stuff? Their daughter ran away to become part of a rental service and if I remember correctly, Yamada's older sister lent Ros and Guil to Yamada for use while he was in Subaruboshi High.**

"…WHAT?!" Mei screamed, seeing the message in front of her. "This can't be possible!"

"_Fate is very humorous sometimes…"_ Renenutet chuckled. _"I wonder what else is in store."_

Mei nodded her head and took another deep breath. She then began to continue reading Mitsuko's message.

**Mitsuko: If I remember correctly, Ros and Guil are complete jerks. Why Noriko lent them to her little brother, not to mention how they acted so passive during those three months, is beyond me. What was the deal with that?**

**Midnight: Yamada has a secret crush on Mei, remember? He saw how troubled she was in regards to the Tarot reading she saw in the past and wanted some friends to keep an eye on her. He chose Ros and Guil because he knew they would have the persistence—and the greed—to be her quiet, submissive friends until it was over. For all of their negative traits, their patience is something to be admired.**

**Yoko: Not to mention why they have to deal with this. Just because you're in a rental company doesn't mean you get everything handed to you on a silver platter. Sure, the higher ups will ensure that no one can abuse you outside of a request, but that doesn't mean that you get free room and rent.**

Mei wanted to hurl the laptop away at that last sentence. Instead she went to her tarot deck and shuffled, muttering something about wanting proof on this. She drew a card and glared at it. It depicted a hand in the sky grasping onto a large golden coin with a star stamped on it. It was upside down.

"An inverted Ace of Pentalces," she said. "Misfortune's coming for these two. I wonder what it's like for them to be living in the house of the person who caused all of this…"

"_Calm down, my little one." _said Renenutet. _"While you do a little bit of detective work, I'll go check on them myself. What do you say?"_

"Good idea," Mei answered. "I think it'd be nice for them to have a little talk to their good 'friend'."

Renenutet chuckled as her body shrunk into a human form. Mei slightly gasped as she saw Renenutet look just like her. The doppleganger had Mei's eyes, sweet smile, the shade of brown hair...it was so amazing yet surreal.

"I best be off," said Renenutet, her voice mimicking Mei's. "Take care, my sweet Serpent-bearer."

Mei nodded her head as Renenutet disappeared in a puff of smoke. Just as the serpent left, Yuka entered once more, panting for breath.

"What's wrong?" asked Mei. "You look like you've seen a ghost?"

"Mei," Yuka said. "Something happened to your parents! They were killed in a car accident last night!"

"…Really?" Mei asked calmly.

"It was horrible! Their bodies were crushed, guts splattered everywhere, and some of your mother's forehead was left on the cracked windshield."

"They deserved their fate," Mei spat out, slamming her Tarot deck onto the desk by her side. "They needed to die."

"Don't say that, Mei!" Yuka exclaimed. "They were still your parents who still cared for you! They were just mad that you would go kill yourself like that! People are like glaciers, you know? There's the ten percent that are usually seen and the ninety percent that is kept below the surface. It looked mean, but your parents—"

"They never cared!" Mei screamed. "I don't want those parents who put their job over me! I want the parents who would come to my side and comfort me! I want the parents who knew what I liked to eat! I want the parents that I share the dinner table with and talk about our day! I want my old parents back!"

"Mei…" Yuka approached the screaming, angry girl and wrapped embraced her. "Please don't cry, things will be all right. I'm sure there's someone who truly cares about you. So please, don't shed any more tears."

Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. Mei still continued to cry for the parents that she would no longer see and the reality that the parents that she had were the ones that she had to live with.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

"Son of a bitch!" Ros screamed, punching the wall to his and Guil's apartment. "Why do we have to go and act as Yamada Tatsumori? What did he ever do for us?"

"Aside from giving us some well-deserved money and some time away from his sister?" asked Guil. "He's been going on and on and _on_ about that whole 'All the world's a stage' crap ever since his sister flat out left him. I mean, what type of complex does he have?"

"Whatever it is, it's pathetic." Ros slumped onto the couch. "Three months surviving that stupid fortune-teller and now we're going to be Yamada I and Yamada II for _five years_! Whose idea was this?"

Just as Guil was about to answer, there was a knock on the door. He approached it and asked, "Who is it?"

"Excuse me, dear sirs," said a young, timid voice. "But could you let me in…even for a short amount of time?"

"And…who are you?"

"Call me…Madame Pollux."

* * *

**Next time: Ros and Guil better mind their P's and Q's for this one night, because they can easily be replaced at anytime. Meanwhile, Mei is free from the hospital and is heading to a home with parents that aren't as they seem.  
**

**Next reading, I The Magician (Inverted)  
**


	9. I The Magician (D)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 9: I The Magician (Inverted)**

"_What you don't do can be a destructive force."_

_-Eleanor Roosevelt_

Guil was silent as he saw Madame Pollux patiently wait ouside the door. He quickly muttered, "Excuse me," before slowly closing the door shut.

"Um, Ros?" said Guil, turning to his partner. "What do we do about the old lady?"

"What does she want with us?" asked Ros, turning his gaze to the hooded figure. "We don't have time to deal with her. We've got too much to worry about. Yamada's parents most likely want us in about an hour or two for 'our first' dinner together."

"She's nice, though. She doesn't look like she couldn't hurt a butterfly."

"That's what they all say," Ros replied with a roll of his eyes. "Our own mother was like that, and you _know_ what she did!"

"This old woman isn't like that Ros," said Guil. "Come on, she's not going to bite."

"Whatever," Ros said with a sigh. "Bring the old hag in and let's make it quick. I'll get some water boiling. Entertain her or whatever."

Guil nodded his head and opened the door, motioning for the old woman to enter. Madame Pollux nodded her head and entered as Guil closed the door behind him.

"Thank you, young man," she said, bowing toward Guil. "At least there are some people who know a little thing called 'manners'."

"Make yourself at home," said Guil, clearing out the newspaper articles on the old couch. "Ros is getting the tea ready so just be a little patient.

Madame Pollux nodded her head as she sat down, looking at the grey walls. Plastered everywhere were photos of four people: a mother, father and twin boys. They were all smiling as if nothing could ruin their parades. She sighed as she looked elsewhere around the room. The floor was cluttered with dirty clothes and more newspaper. There was the smell of warm tea, and the kettle began to whistle. It looked very pleasant, even if the residents weren't the nicest out there.

"Here," said Ros, shoving a cup of tea to Madame Pollux's hands. "Hope you like

"Do you at least have a bit of sugar?" said Madame Pollux. "I always like my tea with sugar."

"Yeah," Ros scoffed. "Be right back."

He walked back into the kitchen while Madame Pollux raised an eyebrow at Guil. Guil scratched his head feebishly.

"Don't get mad at him," he said. "He's still reeling from the phone-call yesterday. That, and a lot of other problems."

"Why does this man have to carry so much hatred in his heart?" asked Madame Pollux. "What did the world do to him to give him so much anger to lash out at everyone he sees?"

"It goes back a long way," Guil explained. "Our parents used to be loving, but then dear old dad died and mom went crazy on the alcohol. She started seeing us as miniature versions of our own dad and, well..."

There was the sound of glass breaking. Guil slowly entered the kitchen, seeing Ros and a large shard of glass in his hand. Surrounding the counter were smaller shards of glass. The palm of Ros's hand was dripping with blood, and the look in his eyes showed that he was about to murder someone.

"You..." Ros snarled, turning to his brother. He began to approach him, the glass shard still in hand. "Why the fuck are you telling the old hag that story?"

"She has the right to know!" Guil exclaimed. "Ros, you have to stop this. You need help!"

"Shut up!" Ros screamed, slapping Guil across the face. "The less you talk about that stupid bitch, the better! God, you're sometimes worse than that Shirakawa slut and her whole tarot shit. That girl can die in a ditch for all I care!"

"Ros," Guil whispered, placing a hand over his cheek. He snarled and punched Ros in the face. "I need you to stop whining and grow up!"

"Oh so _now_ you grow a spine!" Ros growled, grabbing onto his brother's arm. His lips curled into a wicked smile as he raised the glass shard into the air. "Well, let's see if you like this!"

Guil tried to struggle from his older brother's grasp, but Ros drove a knee to his stomach, knocking the wind out of him. Just as he was about to see himself die, Madame Pollux cleared her throat.

"Now boys," she said. "I think I can find an easier way to solve your problems." She took the cup into her hands and drank the tea down before setting the teacup down on the floor. She pulled out a deck of cards from the sleeve of her cloak and began to shuffle it. "I dabble with fortunes—_true_ fortunes. All I need is a face to gaze at in order for my magic to work. As long as I can picture it in my head, then their future is up for grabs." She turned to the brothers. "Perhaps I should read your future to see what shall happen to you."

"Fortune telling is bullshit," Ros replied, dropping Guil onto the ground. "I can prove it to you."

"Oh?" Madame Pollux stopped shuffling her deck and placed it on the table in front of her. She fanned the cards out, each of them ready to show Ros and Guil's past, present or future. "If you are so confident about it, pick the card that represents your past."

"I shall," said Ros, snatching the card on the far right. It depicted a young boy on a chariot being lead by a white and black sphinx, respectively. "VII The Chariot?" he asked.

Madame Pollux took the card into her hands and inspected it. "I see," she said. "An upright The Chariot means that you two worked hard in the past, and your persistence eventually paid off. Tell me, what were you successful in?"

"Getting away from our whore of our mother," Ros answered. "Trying to seduce us and act like we're her sweet 'hubby-wubby'," he gagged at the last word. "Ugh."

"I see. How long did it take for you to escape her wrath?"

"We've been away from her for three years," Guil answered, looking at one of the photos hanging on the wall. The photo showed Ros and Guil about to blow the candles off of a cake, with their mother watching in awe. "It was on our 14th birthday when we finally said good-bye to her forever, and in the process became part of the rental business."

"Interesting," said Madame Pollux, setting the Tarot Card down. "Guil, will you be so kind as to go pick up the next card?"

"Okay," Guil picked up a card somewhere in the middle. The card depicted a woman sitting up in her bed, weeping. Decorating the wall next to her were nine sharp swords. It was upright, just like its predecessor. "Is this...good?"

"I'm afraid not," said Madame Pollux. "An upright Nine of Swords which represents despair. You take on so many burdents and lash out at everyone. Your father's death and your mother's mental breakdown put a toll on your psyche, right? And even now, even I can sense that it has brought you so much anxiety."

"You don't even know the half of it," said Ros. "We have to do so many jobs to pay for rent and the giant debt that w eowe the rental company to get rid of our mother. Last we saw her, she was playing the role of 'girlfriend' to a famous rock-star or something. Then there was that scandal where..."

"We are talking about you, not her," said Madame Pollux, interrupting the tale. "What is your fate? What shall you decide? You have one more card to go. Are you going to let your future decide for you? Or will you take it for yourself?"

"I'll do it for myself!" said Ros, taking a card into his hand. It depicted a young man etching a pentacle onto a coin. On the right were six coins, already stamped with a five-pointed star. Near the man's foot was another coin ready to be printed with said star. Unlike the first two cards, however, it was upside down.

"Oh dear," said Madame Pollux. "An inverted Eight of Pentacles can only mean one thing. You're so focused on the dream world you're in, that you won't be able to tell what's up from down anymore."

"Are you saying that we're eventually going to forget who we are once we become Yamada Tatsumori?" asked Ros. "That son of a bitch ruined everything! Who in their right mind tells of his sister with the words that made her runaway and to send us to be his little guinea pigs because he can't grow up?! I'd rather die than be Tatsumori! You know that? I hate the little kid's guts, and I bet he causes more harm than good."

"You'd be surprised," said Madame Pollux, snatching the card from Ros's hand. "It's just too bad you won't be able to step out of this room in a few minutes."

"W-what do you mean by that?" asked Guil, seeing Madame Pollux pull down her hood. "What's going—oh my god!"

A large snake emerged from underneath the hood and the disgiuse faded away. This was no mere fortune-teller. It was none other than Renenutet, the serpent of fortunes herself. Her large serpentine body coiled around Ros and Guil, petrifying the two boys in absolute fear.

"I always like to see the look of fear on one's face before I eat them," Renenutet chuckled. "My Serpent-bearer will be happy to see you two gone."

"Serpent-bearer?" said Ros. "You mean...that little bitch?"

"Excuse me, but that 'little bitch' is currently your superior," said Renenutet. "Oh wait, you haven't learned that part yet. Nonetheless, I highly doubt it would've killed you to give proper respect for a lady in distress."

Her body began to wrap round and round Ros and Guil. Ros tried using the glass in hand to cut a wound, but the glass couldn't make a scratch on Renenutet's scaly body. Renenutet's golden eyes began to flicker in delight as she saw the boys' futile attempts to escape.

"We're sorry!" Guil whimpered. "We didn't be mean to Mei. We just needed the money!"

"And she needed a companion!" Renenutet retorted. "But I guess life's not fair, is it? Oh well. You two will be singing a different tune once I'm done with you. You see, I deal with something far worse than death,"

"And what's that?" asked Ros, trying to show a brave face in front of the malicious serpent.

"I steal memories." Renenutet smiled as her prey stayed silent. "Once I devour you, no one will remember who you were. It'll be like you two never existed. Isn't it so fitting? Your namesakes were always in the background and no one paid attention to them, and in the end they died. That's going to happen to you...and there's nothing you can do about it!"

Renenutet cackled as she opened her mouth over both Ros and Guil. The two could only scream in terror, before the serpent swallowed them up.

**0-0-0-0-0**

Mei left the hospital with a sigh. The medical exams stated that she was perfectly healthy, and there was no indication on her stomach that showed that she began to gut herself the day before. However, with her parents dead, it was only a matter of time until paperwork was going to be filled out and she was to be sent into a foster-home. Great, just great.

Even if she could go home, it just wouldn't be the same. Gone were the nights her dad came home from work with a smile on his face. Gone were the days that her mom would cook dinner and Mei would boil tea for the three of them. Gone were the stories the family read together. There was nothing left of her parents—and she didn't feel sorry about it at all.

The only thing on her mind was anger. She was angry at the world for giving her this cruel twist of fate. The King of Amanogawa High fancied her and gave her two bumbling jesters to cheer her up. Her knight in shining armor slayed innocent civilians, and her parents were greedy money lenders. It was some sort of twisted fairytale world and she didn't like it. At all.

A car slowly parked in front of the hospital. The driver lowered the window and smiled at Mei. Mei weakly smiled back, confused as to what was going on.

"Welcome, Mei-chan!" said the woman, dressed in a pink and white lacy dress. "Come inside! We're expecting you!"

"Who are you?" asked Mei, narrowing her eyes. She balled her hands into fists, mentally preparing herself to summon Renenutet to get rid of this strange woman. "What do you want with me?"

"Don't you recognize your own mother?" said the woman. "Come with us! We'll have your favorite for dinner!"

"...What's my favorite?" Mei asked suspiciously.

"Cream crab croquettes, teriyaki salmon and carrot pickles." The woman answered cheerfully. "Then we'll all have a desert of ice cream sundaes! Wouldn't that be nice?"

"Sundaes?" Mei could recall the times she and her mother would get ice cream sundaes at the amusement park and discuss all of the rides. "I haven't had one in so long..."

"Hurry, Mei-chan!" said the woman. "I'll explain everything on the way to your house."

"Who are you?" asked Mei. "I don't want to be coming home with a stranger. Especially not one dressed as if she's going to a ball."

"Silly me," the woman giggled. "In all of this excitement, I didn't say my name. My name is Yomi Jojima, and for tonight, I'm going to be your mother."

Mei still felt uneasy—this 'Yomi' could probably be just like Ros and Guil, only doing the job and dress-up for the money, nothing more. Yet, she could see the woman's smile on her face and it was genuine. This woman really wanted to cheer her up, and she certainly did need some cheering up after what transpired.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, Mei Shirakawa approached the car that would take her home.

* * *

**Next time: With these strange people acting as her parents, Mei feels happy for the first time since forever. Is there a way for that happy feeling to always stay with her forever and ever? What can Mei do to ensure that she can always be with her true, loving parents?**

**To be continued in, X-Seven of Coins (Upright)**


	10. Seven of Coins (U)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 10: Seven of Coins (Upright)**

"_Always be yourself, express yourself, have faith in yourself, do not go out_

_and look for a successful personality and duplicate it."_

_-Bruce Lee_

Mei Shirakawa was quiet throughout the trip out of the hospital. Being picked up by these strange people—who went by the names of Yomi and Yusuke Jojima—only made her apprehensive. Who were these people? And why did they know her name? She needed to consult with her tarot deck to figure out the best phase of action. She had no idea what Renenutet was up to, and a part of her didn't even want to know what the gigantic serpent had in store.

Lightly shuffling her tarot deck from her purse as to not disturb these strange people, Mei drew a card from the very bottom of the deck and looked at it curiously. It was upright, with a man wielding a hoe in his hand, staring at his work in the garden. Growing from a large bush were seven golden coins marked with stars.

"_A Seven of Coins..." _She thought. _"Even though I've done so much hard work, I might not gain the success I want right now. All I have to do is wait...but I've already done so much waiting! How long am I going to sit here being tortured by waiting for something good to happen?!"_

Mei snarled and placed her head into her hands. No matter what she did, all she could do was sit in the sidelines. Why couldn't she actually do something that was useful? For the past few days, she's been sent into slumber by the Aries Zodiarts, heard voices in her head, learned that her 'best friends' were hired hands by the man who caused all of this madness, her parents didn't care about her at all when she was in the hospital, Jiro was dead, and she was now contracted to an ancient serpent. She hated it—why did she have to suffer? Who was causing her so much pain and misery?

"Mei-chan," said Yusuke, turning around. "Are you all right?"

"I don't know," Mei replied. "I've been feeling upset at my path in life and I don't know whether or not I'm going to have a happy ending. I mean...my life's been in complete turmoil and I just can't guide myself to the future I want."

"Just calm down," said Yomi. "Everything will work out in the end."

"How can you say that?! You didn't have parents who didn't care about you at all! You didn't have friends who only were your friends for a simple paycheck! You didn't see someone die by your own best friend!" Mei placed her head in her hands and yelled, "HOW CAN YOU SAY SUCH A THING WHEN YOU DON'T KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH?!"

Both Jojimas stared at each other as Mei continued to sob. The crying continued as the three traveled to the Jojima residence.

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

Renenute stared at her handiwork. Lying before her were the soulless bodies of Ros and Guil. In a few minutes, their bodies would erode into sand and their existence would be all but forgotten. If anyone tried to see their face, they would only see blank slates. If someone tried to recall their names, it would always be on the tip of their tongues (but then again, they were always called Ros and Guil so it wasn't that difficult to remember). Besides, it looked like no one cared for them in the first place...so why should she care about them?

However, even with karma paying its due, she frowned. She didn't find what she was looking for in those two guys. Perhaps she had to try a different approach as to find it.

"They said something about a mother," Renenutet noted, closing her eyes. "Perhaps if I can locate her, then I can probably find the key. I want to see you again, Macupo...how long has it been since we told fortunes to the little ones?" She sighed. "I just want to see your face once more..."

Knowing that she wasn't going to find answers by staying in Ros and Guil's old apartment, she transformed into her disguise as Madame Pollux and walked out, closing the door behind her.

**0-0-0-0-0**

Mei entered the Jojima residence and smelled a warm stew cooking away. While Yusuke Jojima went to the kitchen to see how it was cooking, Yomi Jojima dragged Mei up the stairs and into the bedroom. Mei looked around, seeing photos of the happy couple all dressed up in elaborate costumes. They even had some with a young girl with long black hair and a big smile on her face.

"Is that..." Mei began. Yomi turned to a large picture of her, her husband and the girl all dressed in the colors of Mardi Gras.

"That girl's my daughter, Yuki," Yomi explained. "She's staying at a friend's house to go over some stuff for her Kyoto trip tomorrow."

"Oh..." Mei said. "She came to visit me at my school a few days ago."

"Eh! She did? How was it?"

"It was...a very interesting day." Mei sat down on the bed and balled her hands into fists. "There was so much that happened that it's hard to recall at them in one sitting."

"It was on that day that Gentaro-kun died," Yomi replied, picking up a photo on her vanity dresser. This one depicited a young boy and girl dressed as an English King and Queen wielding scepters and bags filled with candy. "Yuki hasn't been the same after that. The two had been best friends since kindergarten, and she blames herself for not being able to stop the attacker from landing the killing blow."

"_Anyone would blame themselves for not taking action." _Mei thought to herself, recalling how she watched her inverted IV The Emperor played out for Gentaro. _"And because of that, others blame them for just standing there doing nothing."_

"I hope Yuki will be able to understand that it wasn't her fault," Yomi continued. A tear fell down her eye as she set the photo frame down. "But...life goes on, and we must learn to live with what fate has given us."

"_And tarot is just a way of telling us the resources..." _Mei thought to herself. _"I just want to use them to give me happiness..."_

"Aha!" said Yomi, opening her large wardrobe. She pulled out a white and powder blue dress from its hangar and presented it to Mei. "Put this one."

"But why?" asked Mei.

"It's to go with tonight's French dinner!" Yomi answered. "Now hurry! Your father's preparing the dessert while we speak!"

"What are we having for dessert...mother?" Mei felt hesitant in calling a complete stranger her mother, but it fit for some reason. She was being part of something, instead of tossed aside for work.

"It's a surprise, dear," Yomi chuckled. "Now, let's get dressed."

Mei nodded her head as she removed her hospital gown and began to dress up.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Twenty minutes later, Mei was walking downstairs in a white and powder blue dress with a matching feathered hat, and fanning herself with an elegant fan edged with lace. Yomi was by her side, praising her in French while Mei could only nod her head in agreement. Yusuke was already at the table, ladling bowls of beef stew for his wife and 'daughter'. Mei's stomach grumbled loudly—the food looked so delicious.

"Mei!" said Yomi, lightly tapping the back of Mei's head with her fan. "Control your hunger! We shall eat soon enough!"

Mei nodded her head as she reached the dining room and sat down on her chair. Served in front of her was a large pot of beef stew, something that looked similar to star-shaped biscuits, slices of baguettes, and a plate full of colorful macaroons. Everything was so delicious...

"Now Mei," said Yomi, taking a baguette slice into her hand. "Do you have anything to ask us?"

"I do, actually..." Mei sliced a piece of beef and placed it to her lips. After she finished eating it, she asked, "Why are you treating me like I was your own daughter? I mean...you have one already..."

"I guess it is strange that someone in a fancy costume picks you up and takes you to their house," said Yusuke. "Well, Yomi and I do this for a living. We're part of a rental service and..."

"WHAT?!" Mei felt her anger boil—those words reminded her of Yamada's twisted love for her, and how Ros and Guil were only paid to be her friends. She didn't want to be with people who were paid to be friends and family...she'd rather die then let that happen!

"Mei, listen to us for a minute!" said Yomi. "We're from a non-profit organization called 'Engagement in Loneliness.' Many adults come and take care of children who have recently lost their parents or loved ones in tragic cases. In this case...you."

"A friend of yours called us and asked that we give you a nice warm dinner," Yusuke added. "She also went and contacted your grandparents to pick you up from this house."

"Really?" Mei was very close to her grandparents, seeing as she had no siblings. She hadn't seen them since for quite some time, so moving with them would be a refreshing change of pace. "That was...very kind of her."

"She's also agreed to take care of you as a Big Sister for the next couple of days," Yomi added, taking one of the star biscuits into her mouth. "Oh, and the biscuits are something called duchess potatoes. Try one out."

Mei nodded her head as she took one of the star shaped mashed potato bundle into her mouth. She smiled as she tasted the creaminess of the potatoes melt in her tongue.

"So Mei," said Yusuke. "How were your parents?"

"They...weren't interested in my troubles," Mei answered back, folding her napkin into squares. "They were busy with their work and didn't even realize I was sick. They slapped me when I was hospitalized and my mother dropped me at the hospital and drove off without me."

"How long has this been happening?" asked Yomi.

"For about the past few years actually. Usually they'd leave me alone if I left them alone, but honestly I don't care that they're dead. They're not going to get sympathy from me when it comes to cremating them."

"But they still raised you," said Yusuke. "That should count as something. They were the ones who helped pay for your clothes, food, tuition for school, etc. Even if they don't show the love that you want them to give you, if they had the time to do that...shouldn't you be thanking them?"

"I...I don't know." Mei ate more of the beef stew before continuing. "I mean...you don't just forgive people who hurt you, right? How can you do such a thing?"

"It's painful, but sometimes it's the best thing to do." Yomi noted. "But enough about that. We're all here to have a delicious dinner! So chin up, and we shall let you eat cake after all is said and done!"

Mei smiled and nodded her head. With her spirits renewed, she began to eat once more.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

After dinner was finished, and Mei was in some new clothes, she was in the living room, shuffling through her tarot deck. In front of her on the coffee table were three important cards: XXII The World (upright), the Three of Coins (upright) and XI Justice (inverted). They were giving her the most confusing of questions.

First, XXII The World represented her future. What type of change was she going to go through? Was it already there with her contract with Renenutet? Was she going to get something new in the following days? The problem with change is that it could be so subtle sometimes. You never know what you were going to expect until it slammed you right across the face.

The Three of Pentalces was Yamada's future card. He was going to be praised for his success...Mei wanted to rip that card into shreds when she drew it. Yamada Tatsumori, the Apostle of Sleep, the devil whose deal made Ryusei kill Gentaro was going to be rewarded. How was that even _possible?_

The last card was the Kamen Rider Club's future. What type of loss were they going to go through? Were they going to lose another loved one? And if so, who could it be?

Mei sighed as she tried to run different interpretations of the cards through her head. Since she barely had information on the Kamen Rider Club or Yamada, she couldn't create an accurate description as to what the deck was telling her. Even if she used her powers, well if she could call them that anyway, what would that do? It just gave her hints as to what would happen, but not accurate descriptions.

"_Renenutet..." _she thought to herself. _"Where are you? What are you doing?"_

Hearing no response from the Serpent in question, Mei just shook her head, gathered the cards on the table and shuffled her deck once more. Right now, she just needed to be alone more than ever.

* * *

**Next time, while Mei tries to understand the cards of the future, Renenutet interacts with two boys who seem to possess the personalities of serpents she had in the past. It is through this encounter that the wheels of fate begin to turn once more.**

**To be continued in XI-XIII Death (Upright)**


	11. XIII Death (U)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 11: XIII Death (Upright)**

"_Death is the only truth."_

_-Holly Summers, No More Heroes_

A very good benefit of bonding with a Serpent-bearer was that a Serpent was capable of creating a human body for their own. It made it easier to traverse amongst other humans and, as an added bonus, whatever items the Serpent-bearer had on hand when the Serpent made the transformation. For Renenutet, this meant that she had access to Mei's tarot deck that she carried with her at all times.

She walked across an empty street, shuffling the deck with a bored look on her face. Traversing through the town reminded her of Egypt, with its desert sands and moon shining on her. She wasn't the only one who landed there—she also had the company of Wadjet and Apep who were also amused with the Ancient Egyptians, their diverse worship for deities, and their magnanimous skill in creating pyramids and obelisks. Sure, Apep did lock her up and ruled over Egypt for quite some time—something to appease his boredom, apparently—but that was the only type of entertainment the Serpents had.

After shuffling the deck for the upteemth time, Renenutet drew the top card from the deck. She grimaced—it was a skeleton dressed in black armor and riding a horse.

"XIII Death," she said. "Very funny—as if I didn't need reminders of that. If what my Serpent-bearer's memories about this card is true, then this is about change. No, to be more accurate, it's signifiying that _I_ am about to change. I'm going to be leaving my past behind me...but I don't want to." She slipped the tarot deck into the sleeve of her cloak and clenched her fist. "I want to see Marcupo again...and it's all that damned Virgo's fault that we were separated. If I ever see her again, I'll make sure all of _her_ descendants die slow, painful _deaths_."

As she finished talking, she thought she heard something in a nearby alleyway. She approached it with curiosity, seeing two human males pressed against the wall, kissing.

"Come on, Apep..." one hissed. "We're all alone while the Serpent-bearer finishes his third bowl. You know he's got a big appetite...just like I do."

"If you start necking me and drinking my blood, then I probably will have to gut you to compensate," Apep replied. "I'm sure you'd love to feel what it was like when those humans sacrificed themselves to you and Quetzalcoatl, right? My dear Serpent of Obsidian Knives...I rather not eat your organs after having my fill of ramen."

_Apep? Serpent of Obsidian Knives? It can't be...unless Ophiuchus resurrected them somehow... _Thoughts swarmed in Renenutet's head as she saw the two people—or as she saw them, serpents—in carnal embrace. If _they_ were there, then that meant...

A wicked smile appeared on her lips. She was starting to hatch a devious plan.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

**Mitsuko: **I heard the rental company is hiring new people now...they're a little short-handed.

**Yoko: **Really? Where can I sign up?

**Midnight: **Not anyone can sign up. You have to fit a good criteria for them to get into the company. You need a specific skill that will easily wow others, and be an exceptionally good actor when it coems to the roles.

**Yoko: **Why's that?

**Mitsuko:** They're looking for people who are truly into their role and can be them for more than a few months. There are people who are requesting that they get the rentals for at most a few years and are willing to pay big money for that kind of service. It's also psychologically painful for the employee having to stay in that role for an indefinite amount of time. You have to feel sorry for them.

Mei snarled as she continued to read the three girls' gossip amongst themselves on her laptop. She hated the fact that there were people being used to crush other people's feelings for money. No, it was more of the fact that the people hiring them could do whatever they want, and the employees were all forced to do whatever. Say if the employee was to jump off a cliff. All they'd have to do was jump and that was it...job accomplished.

Even worse, Mei still hadn't heard from Renenutet. There was this feeling of dread gnawing at her stomach that was telling her that making the contract was bad news. What really made her nervous was the price: "her future". When would Renenutet collect payment? What exactly was "her future"? What would happen to her in said future?

Trying her best not to focus on those questions, Mei continued to read the next couple of messages. If only she could get to the bottom of the mystery regarding Yamada—doing so would at least give her the means to figure out the Three of Coins reading he had.

Then, a lightbulb lit up in her head. If there were positions needed for the rental company, she could easily submit a form and hire herself. She could uncover the rental company's dirty little secrets and perhaps get information regarding Yamada Tatsumori and his motivation to enact the dreaded deal with Ryusei.

Mei smiled as she typed out the information in a word document. In a few days time, she was going to be right in front of the company's nose, and they would never even notice.

**0-0-0-0-0-0-**

Kengo Utahoshi, if he had to be honest with himself, never thought of being in love with someone. That is, until now.

When Jiro entered his room and freed him from that horrible, soundless void, he felt like he found someone who understood his loneliness. They were both the same—they were betrayed by the same person and were given a second chance in life by the Serpent-bearer. That gave them solace to find love in one another.

"Apep..." Jiro hissed, placing another kiss on Kengo's neck. "What do you suppose we'll do tomorrow evening? I mean, we'll pretty much have that stupid, little principal under our thumb as payback for what he caused."

"I just want to make sure I don't get any migraines from everyone screaming and yelling," Kengo replied, leaning against the wall. He slid against the wall and sat down, covering his mouth to yawn. "Ugh...I hate being tired."

"But you're so _adorable_ when you sleep," Jiro whined. "I'd go under the bedsheets and cuddle you and sing to you and..."

"Ahem," a voice interrupted. Kengo and Jiro turned their heads as a woman in a hooded grey cloak and jingling bracelets approached them. "I hope that I'm not intruding on your love time, but I hope that you two could give me some time."

"It's 8:53," Kengo replied, staring at the hooded person. "Now bug off."

"I didn't mean that," Reneutet chuckled and shook her head. "I wanted to know if you want to know your fate. I decide them all...or do I?"

"Listen lady," said Jiro. "While it's nice that you start preaching out prophecy and such, we're not interested. So, why don't you go to your little gypsy caravan and..."

"Don't you want to know your future together? Don't you want to know if you'll make a permanent..._bond_ like in the days of old?"

For a moment, Jiro looked a little hesitant. Renenutet pulled out the tarot deck from her sleeves and shuffled it, waiting for his response. The only sound heard in the alleyway were cards smacking toward one another as Renenutet continued to move them around.

"I will not ask for any huge payments for this reading," she continued. "I want to know the answer of one question, and then the two of you are free to do whatever you want. That seems fair, doesn't it?"

"That's all there is to it?" Kengo asked suspiciously.

"Yes," Renenutet answered. "And since you asked that, I ask that you should be the first to draw a card." She fanned the cards out. "Go on. Pick a card that shall represent your past."

Kengo stood up and approached the fortune-teller, pulling a card before showing it to her. It was upside-down, depicting a knight on his mighty steed and a sword in hand charging into battle.

"Hmm...an inverted Knight of Swords," Renenutet mused. "It seems that you were very secretive in the past or were known to cause trouble."

"I did have some stuff to keep from people who always wanted to stick their noses into someone's business," said Kengo. He then turned to Jiro. "And you?"

"Not that I know of," Jiro replied, tilting his head. "Can we draw a card that's more relevant to our situation now?"

"Go ahead," said Renenutet. "No one's stopping you."

"Goody!" Jiro exclaimed, drawing his card near the top of his deck. He looked at his card with curiosity. "What does this mean?"

Renenutet took the card into her hands: it showed three women raising their goblets in celebration, surrounded by flowers.

"Oh," Renenutet smiled. "An upward Three of Cups means that it is time for celebration in being together. Rejoice, sweet lovers."

Jiro hugged Kengo and was about to kiss him before Renenutet cleared her throat.

"However," she said. "The two of you need to find out what your future will be. What do you see? Please, draw the fated card."

"Let's do it together, love," Jiro whispered into Kengo's ear. He took his hand into his own and placd it over the deck. "Ready?"

The two placed their hands over the top of the deck and drew the card. It was upright, depicting a man in woman wielding goblets while a winged lion head hovered above their heads.

"Oh," Renenutet giggled. "That's an upright Two of Cups. I sense the two of you creating such a close bond with one another. In conjunction with your Three of Cups, this means that you two will have a happy future together."

"We wouldn't have it any other way," said Kengo. "Thank you."

"You're quite welcome. Now," Renenutet plucked the cards from Kengo and Jiro's hands before shuffling the deck once more. "About my payment."

"We'll give you anything," said Jiro. "What is it?"

"I only want one question answered in exchance for this reading." Renenutet narrowed her eyes. "My little brother has a Serpent-bearer, doesn't he? What is his name?"

**0-0-0-0-0-0**

The sound of a door-bell caught Mei's attention. She looked up from her typing and went to the door. Opening it, she saw a familiar face.

"Grandpa!" she exclaimed, wrapping her arms around the old man. "Grandpa Tenma, you're here!"

"Mei!" said Tenma, returning the hug. "You've grown so much since I last saw you. How have you been coping with your parents' death?"

"Not so well," Mei answered. "I just don't know why they were acting so mean to me. I didn't do anything bad...did I?"

"No," Tenma patted his grand-daughter's head. "You are a very sweet girl, Mei. No matter what other's say, you need to know who you are. That is the most important lesson I can teach you."

"Oh!" said Yomi, seeing Tenma and Mei talking to each other. "You've come just in time! I'm boiling a pot of tea for all of us to share."

"Thank you," said Tenma. "I'm sure that it'll be nice to have something like this to lift your spirits. This weekend, we're going to have a funeral service for my son and daughter-in-law..."

Mei watched as her grandfather walked into the dining room as she looked at the night sky. She hadn't seen the moon look so full and bright in so long—all she had been thinking out these last few days was how her life sucked. When was the last time that she appreciated such beauty?

"_It's been a while since I saw a sparkling moon..." _Renenutet chuckled in Mei's mind. _"I think I found something that the two of us could appreciate."_

Mei gasped as she saw Renenutet materialize in front of the house in her grey cloak. She saw the serpent remove the hood, revealing a mirror image of Mei's own face.

"Where have you been?" asked Mei. "What happened?"

"It's a very long story," Renenutet explained. "But I have just come back with some very interesting news."

"Like what?"

"It involves a boy," Renenutet answered. "It involves a boy and a serpent actually. The Serpent goes by the name of Ophiuchus, and the boy..."

Mei felt her heart beat fast at the word 'boy'. She was hoping that the name of the boy wasn't "Ryusei Sakuta" or worse "Yamada Tatsumori"-the last thing she needed was those two screwing up her life even more.

"Spit it out," she exclaimed. "What's the name of the boy?"

"The boy?" Renenutet smiled. "I think you know his name, Serpent-bearer. The boy is simply known as Gentaro Kisaragi."

* * *

**Next time: A new day dawns for Mei as this is the same day as the Kyoto Field Trip. On this day, what will she desire? And with the new information in her hands, what does she intend to do with it?**

**To be continued in 12 'VIII Strength (Inverted)'**


	12. VIII Strength (D)

**Wheel of Fortune**

**Reading 12: VIII Strength (Inverted)**

"_Everyone has a conflict inside of them – the conflict of what you should do and what you want to do."_

_-Suraj Sharma_

Gentaro Kisaragi...

Mei heard the name echo in her mind during her trip to her grandparents' home. How was that possible? She saw Gentaro die at the warehouse and was at his funeral! The dead don't come back to life...right?

"_The only reason you don't know about this now is because you were only thinking about yourself." _Renenutet sneered. _"You're such a selfish little being, only wanting what you want rather than think of others."_

_Shut up. _Mei replied back in her mind. _This isn't helping._

"_This isn't helping who? I'm not the one who made the contract, nor am I the one who just watched as an innocent person was resurrected by my own brother. No, that was all you, Mei Shirakawa. You put yourself into this mess."_

"SHUT UP!" Mei screamed, startling her grandfather. He looked at the rearview mirror, as if to ask if anything was wrong.

"Um, it's nothing," Mei answered quickly. "I was just thinking of an argument that I had with my parents."

"It wouldn't happen to do with money, right?"

"Money? No, it's more about 'Why are you so stupid?' or 'Why do you focus on those stupid cards of yours?' It's like they don't care about me at all."

"Of course they care about you—they haven't been the same since they were disowned from the family fortune."

"What?" Mei felt like time was stopping for her when she heard that. She never heard about a family fortune, or even if she did her parents probably never expanded any further on the subject. "Grandpa, what do you mean by that?"

"Your father and his brother were both eyeing for the family fortune," Tenma began, stopping at the red light. "And eventually it came down to the children—you and your cousin. Each of you were given a specific talent to call their own, and calling it would be the difference between who was going to obtain the fortune for their own. Your cousin showed little promise of her powers, while you-"

"Yes?" Mei clenched her hand into a fist to prevent herself from hitting something. She had enough surprises for one day.

"You have a very rare ability in our family," Tenma began, seeing the lights turn green. He stepped on the gas pedal. "The ability of psychokinesis and precognition."

"What do you mean by that? I don't have that power...I've never been able to do that before!"

"That is only because it works when you are under complete stress. When you were young, you would always tell your cousin about the strange shadows and spirits that lurked within the old house, but no one would believe you. Then there was that time when you were seven that you caused all the lights to turn off by themselves when you were accused of breaking an expensive urn. Suffice to say, you had the potential to do wonders...but your powers died down at a very important moment for your parents."

"What day was that?" said Mei, trying to find some sort of memory relating to these strange powers she had.

"It was six years ago," Tenma answered. "You were supposed to show your powers on the night of the Shining Moon that only rises every eight years. Unfortunately, for whatever reason, your powers did not manifest. Your cousin didn't show any sign of her powers that year either, but she was excused for it. Your parents took you away and your father did not want me to contact him until the next Shining Moon, where he promised that you would finally have your powers in check. This also meant that I could not get in contact with you until I heard the news about your parents' untimely demise."

"And my powers were only manifested under pressure..." Mei trailed off as everything clicked into place. Her parents were mean to her because they were so greedy and hated her because she couldn't give them the untold riches that they desired. She grit her teeth as she asked, "What was the name of my cousin?"

"Yayoi Tokuda," Tenma answered, unaware of the anger boiling in his granddaughter. "She's currently in college under some sort of Natural Science degree, last I heard. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, nothing personal..." Mei replied, eye slightly twitching. Deep in her mind she thought, _Renenutet...what did you do while I was gone?_

"_Oh, curious as to what I have done?" _Renenutet chuckled. _"Well, if you must know, I ate the two known as Ros and Guil, erasing them from time itself. Don't ask who those are—you'll never guess anyway. All records of any person I eat will vanish and no one will ever remember them."_

"_Can you alter people's memories?"_

"_To an extent. Why?"_

"_Because..." _Mei closed her eyes. _"I want you to alter my grandparents' memories so that I never existed. Let my cousin have the money for all I care, I don't give a damn anymore. Then, gather as much money as you can and let's get out of here. I don't want anything to do with this family ever again."_

_If that is what you wish...hold still._

It was if time slowed down. Mei saw her grandfather's eyes grew wide and then rolled to the back of his head. It was for a split second, before he blinked and his eyes were normal once more. He looked into the rearview mirror and noticed that no one was sitting behind him. Shrugging his shoulders, he quietly drove back to his house in the hopes that his wife wouldn't get angry as to why he was running late.

**0-0-0-0-0-**

Mei found herself sitting in a park, the only item in her hand was her Tarot deck. She grit her teeth in anger as she realized why she was given this—it wasn't because it was a cute birthday gift. Her parents used it to see if her psychic powers could manifest. Now she hated it more than ever.

Still, it was the only thing that made her feel connected to what was going on. The deck and its cards representing hope were what kept her living. If she did psychokinesis, why couldn't she use it to obtain the happy ending she deserved? She only wished for it now.

Taking a deep breath, Mei shuffled the cards like she always did, praying for guidance. After shuffling, she drew a card. It depicted a woman in a white dress opening the jaws of a lion wide open. The two were standing in a field of white flowers, but the card was upside down.

"An inverted VIII Strength," Mei muttered. "I lost sight of the good things in life as my personal and emotional life go out of control. Well I have every right to be, goddamn it! Why the hell is my life such an emotional wreck? Why can't I be happy?!"

She tossed the cards onto the ground and began to sob. It just wasn't fair—she never wanted psychic powers or money. She just wanted a loving family. But no, she was never entitled to have that, was she? She was left with nothing.

Or was she?

Mei looked through her deck and saw the Three of Pentacles. Remembering Yamada's fortune, she knew that she had something she could do—destroy the rental company that screwed up her social life. She needed to head to an internet cafe and see if her reply for that Rental Service was answered. And if she did have those psychic powers, she could use them to impress the company and make it easier for her to get the information she needed.

"_I have never seen you so determined before," _Renenutet chuckled. _"Did you decide your fate?"_

"I have," Mei answered, speaking to the starry night above. "I want to know more of my powers, and I want to use them against my enemies. I want to find out more about Tatsumori and when he wakes up from his coma, kill him. I want everything related to my sadness to burn in hell."

Renenutet laughed in her mind. _"Yes! You and I can work together now. I have just finished the last touches on your grandparents. They won't even remember a thing about you. How does it feel being a lone wolf, Shirakawa? Does it make you feel happy?"_

"It does," Mei smirked, gathering her cards. "I don't suppose you can tell me the direction of an internet cafe, right?"

"_You're the one with the psychic powers. Figure it out yourself."_

Mei laughed. "I thought as much," she said. She closed her eyes as she focused on the sounds of people typing away on their keyboards, the brightness of the monitors and the whir of CPUs as the many patrons were sitting around doing their business. She opened her eyes and pointed her finger to the North.

"That way," she said. "This is where I should go...I think."

"_Trust your instincts, Shirakawa." _Renenutet whispered. _"Follow them, and they will show you the way."_

Mei nodded her head as she began to walk toward her brand new destiny, with only the moon and stars as her witness.

* * *

**Next time: Mei is living on her own now and must make use of her new powers to obtain her own happiness. Is her happiness well deserved though? And will this new sense of freedom even make her happy.**

**To be continued in 13-King of Swords (Inverted)**


End file.
